Return to homeSunni Muslims comprised two thirds of Syria’s
people. The Alawites, a religious group that broke away from Shiite
Islam in the 9th century, comprised about 6% of Syria’s population.
Pres. Hafez Assad was a member of the sect.
(SSFC, 5/4/03, p.A11)(Econ, 3/26/11, p.53)(Econ,
4/2/11, p.22)
2014 Jan 1,
Syrian warplanes bombed a barren range of Lebanese hills used by
Syrian rebels and refugees to cross between the two countries,
wounding at least 10 Syrians who were rushed to hospital in a nearby
Lebanese town.
(AP, 1/1/14)
2014 Jan 1, The Syrian
Electronic Army, an amorphous hacker collective that supports Syrian
President Bashar al-Assad, claimed credit for hacking into the
social media accounts of Internet calling service Skype.
(Reuters, 1/1/14)
2014 Jan 1, An NGO said more
than 73,000 people were killed in Syria in 2013.
(AFP, 1/1/14)

2014 Jan 2, The Syrian
Observatory for Human Rights said 8 people held by the Syrian
government in Aleppo's central prison have died over the past two
days from malnutrition. Five staffers of Doctors Without Borders
(MSF) were taken from a house they were using in Syria.
(AFP, 1/2/14)(AFP, 1/4/14)

2014 Jan 4, The Lebanese army
said Saudi citizen Majid al-Majid, the "emir" of the Abdullah Azzam
Brigades fighting in Syria, died while undergoing treatment at the
central military hospital.
(AP, 1/4/14)

2014 Jan 5, Syrian opposition
fighters seized a compound garrisoned by an al-Qaida-linked rebel
faction, in some of the most serious infighting to date within the
vast array of rebel groups trying to topple Pres. Assad.
(AP, 1/5/14)

2014 Jan 6, In Syria rival
Islamist rebel groups fought in Raqqa, as local fighters tried to
drive out a foreign-led al Qaeda affiliate which has also seized
towns across the border in Iraq. The al-Qaida-linked ISIL (aka ISIS)
group killed 50 people before surrendering its Aleppo base.
(Reuters, 1/6/14)(AP, 1/7/14)(Econ, 1/11/14,
p.40)

2014 Jan 7, Syria's Information
Minister said the Syrian people have decided President Bashar
al-Assad should be nominated for another term and would pressure him
to stand in elections this year.
(Reuters, 1/7/14)
2014 Jan 7, Syria moved the
first batch of chemical weapon materials out of the country after
transporting it from two sites to the port city of Latakia and onto
a Danish vessel.
(Reuters, 1/7/14)
2014 Jan 7, In Syria Abu
Mohammed al-Golani, the leader of the al-Qaida-linked Nusra Front,
called for a ceasefire between opposition factions who have clashed
for five days in the bloodiest episode of infighting since the
revolt against President Bashar al-Assad began. A suicide car
bombing by al-Qaida-linked ISIL fighters killed at least 20 rebels
near the northern city of Darkoush. 3 staff members of Prague-based
"People in Need" were killed in a mortar attack.
(Reuters, 1/7/14)(AP, 1/8/14)(AFP, 1/9/14)

2014 Jan 8, Syrian rebels
seized control of a hospital used as a headquarters by an al-Qaida
affiliate in the northern city of Aleppo, part of a widening
campaign against the extremist group in the country's
opposition-held north. Rebels overran the Aleppo headquarters of the
Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), as claims emerged that
the Al-Qaeda linked group had massacred prisoners there in cold
blood.
(AP, 1/8/14)(AFP, 1/9/14)

2014 Jan 9, In Syria a powerful
car bomb exploded near a school in al-Kaffat village, Hama province,
killing at least 16 people and causing massive damage to a
residential area. Jihadists battling rebels in the north fought to
recover lost turf nearly a week after a new front opened in the
conflict gripping the country. Syrian government forces killed
dozens of rebel fighters overnight who tried to break an army siege
of Homs.
(AP, 1/9/14)(AFP, 1/9/14)(Reuters, 1/10/14)
2014 Jan 9, Disparate Syrian
opposition groups, including several Islamist rebel representatives,
met for the first time in the Spanish city of Cordoba to seek common
ground ahead of peace talks with President Bashar al-Assad's
government later this month.
(Reuters, 1/9/14)
2014 Jan 9, Germany said it has
accepted a UN request to destroy remnants of Syria's chemical
weapons on its own soil as part of a bid to eliminate the arsenal by
June 30.
(AFP, 1/9/14)

2014 Jan 11, In Syria the ISIL
al-Qaeda affiliate battled rival rebels across the country's north
and dozens of bodies piled up in a hospital in the insurgent-held
city of Raqqa. Government shelling killed more than 20 people in the
central city of Homs.
(Reuters, 1/11/14)(AP, 1/12/14)

2014 Jan 12, Syrian state media
and anti-government activists said a mortar attack has killed at
least 19 people in the central city of Homs. Activists said the al
Qaeda-linked Islamist State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) has
executed dozens of rival Islamists over the last two days as the
group recaptured most territory it had lost in Raqqa province.
(AP, 1/12/14)(Reuters, 1/12/14)

2014 Jan 13, In Syria the
Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) seized the northern town
of al-Bab. American and Russian negotiators in Paris said Syria's
government and the opposition have agreed to consider opening
humanitarian access in the run-up to a peace conference that would
bring the sides together for the first time. The Syrian Observatory
for Human Rights said ISIL had executed 46 Islamists from the Ahrar
al-Sham in an ambush in Kantari and killed 14 prisoners today in
Homs province.
(AP, 1/13/14)(AFP, 1/14/14)
2014 Jan 13, US and Russian
envoys said Syria’s government and the main opposition group have
agreed to allow humanitarian aid into some blocked-off parts of the
country.
(SFC, 1/14/14, p.A4)

2014 Jan 14, The Syrian said it
has retaken territory around the northern city of Aleppo, after two
weeks of rebel infighting that has weakened the insurgency against
President Bashar al-Assad.
(Reuters, 1/14/14)

2014 Jan 15, In Syria a car
bomb planted by rebels linked to al Qaeda killed at least 26 people
in the northern city of Jarablus, most of them rival opposition
fighters.
(Reuters, 1/15/14)
2014 Jan 15, Donors gathered in
Kuwait as the UN sent out a distress signal, warning that nearly
half Syria's population needs urgent humanitarian assistance and
that some 245,000 Syrians faced severe food shortages. Western and
Gulf Arab nations pledged $1.4 billion for UN aid efforts in Syria.
This included $500 million from Kuwait and 380 million from the US.
(AFP, 1/15/14)(Reuters, 1/15/14)

2014 Jan 17, Syria's foreign
minister said his country is prepared to implement a cease-fire in
the war-torn city of Aleppo and exchange detainees with the
country's opposition forces as a confidence building measure ahead
of a peace conference opening next week in Switzerland.
(AP, 1/17/14)
2014 Jan 17, Syrian rebels
ousted al Qaeda-linked faction ISIL, from Saraqeb, one of its
northwestern bastions.
(Reuters, 1/17/14)
2014 Jan 17, In Lebanon rocket
fire into the border town of Arsal killed at 8 people, including 5
children. At least 20 rockets launched from Syria struck Lebanese
frontier areas.
(Reuters, 1/17/14)(AFP, 1/17/14)
2014 Jan 17, Sources said that
Russia in recent weeks has stepped up supplies of military gear to
Syria, including armored vehicles, drones and guided bombs, boosting
President Bashar al-Assad just as rebel infighting has weakened the
insurgency against him.
(Reuters, 1/17/14)

2014 Jan 18, The National
Coalition for Syrian Revolutionary and Opposition Forces voted to
send a delegation to an int’l. peace conference set to begin next
week in Geneva.
(SSFC, 1/19/14, p.A6)
2014 Jan 18, In Syria food aid
entered the besieged Yarmuk Palestinian refugee camp for the first
time in four months. The delivery of food followed reports that
dozens of people in the camp in southern Damascus have died of
hunger and lack of medical care.
(AFP, 1/18/14)

2014 Jan 19, UN
Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon said Iran has been invited to attend a
Jan 22 meeting of foreign ministers in the Swiss city of Montreux
ahead of internationally brokered peace talks between Syria's
warring factions. The UN invite sparked a boycott call from the
opposition and President Bashar al-Assad ruled out a power-sharing
deal.
(AP, 1/19/14)(AFP, 1/20/14)

2014 Jan 20, Iran rebuffed a
precondition for taking part in Syria peace talks in Geneva this
week, saying it could not accept a plan for a Syrian political
transition agreed at talks in the Swiss city in 2012. In response UN
leader Ban Ki-moon withdrew his surprise invitation to Iran, less
than 24 hours after he announced it.
(Reuters, 1/20/14)(AFP, 1/21/14)

2014 Jan 21, A report on Syria,
commissioned by the government of Qatar, detailed photographic and
documentary evidence of systematic torture and killing of some
11,000 detainees between march 2011 and August 2013.
(Econ, 1/25/14, p.38)(http://tinyurl.com/qhbyqde)
2014 Jan 21, Britain told Iran
to stop supporting the Syrian government of Bashar al-Assad
militarily, urging it to back efforts to broker peace in Syria
instead.
(Reuters, 1/21/14)
2014 Jan 21, Kurds in northeast
Syria, on the eve of peace talks in Switzerland, declared a
provincial government in the area.
(Reuters, 1/22/14)

2014 Jan 22, Syria hailed the
reopening of Aleppo international airport after a year's closure as
a military victory over rebels. The Syrian Observatory for Human
Rights reported clashes between government forces and opposition
fighters in the suburbs of Damascus, Daraa in the south, Idlib and
Aleppo in the north and the central province of Homs.
(Reuters, 1/22/14)(AP, 1/22/14)
2014 Jan 22, In Switzerland
peace talks intended to carve a path out of Syria's civil war got
off to a rocky start as a bitter clash over President Bashar Assad's
future threatened to collapse the negotiations even before they
really begin.
(AP, 1/22/14)

2014 Jan 23, Iran’s President
Hassan Rouhani told the World Economic Forum in Davos that Tehran
was ready to help create a new multilateral body tasked with
stabilising global energy supplies. Rouhani also called for free and
fair elections in Syria, saying it would respect any outcome.
(AFP, 1/23/14)(AP, 1/23/14)

2014 Jan 24, A Syrian activist
group said 63 people have died since last June in the besieged
Yarmouk Palestinian refugee camp from a lack of food and medicine.
(AP, 1/24/14)
2014 Jan 24, Direct talks in
Geneva were scrapped between Syrian President Bashar Assad's
government and the Western-backed opposition that wants to overthrow
him. Barrel bomb attacks on Aleppo's outlying industrial city and
the Sheikh Najjar districts killed 10 people,
(AP, 1/24/14)(AFP, 1/25/14)
2014 Jan 24, Iran's foreign
minister, speaking at the World Economic Forum in Davos, called for
all "foreign elements" to leave Syria so its people can decide their
future themselves.
(AP, 1/24/14)

2014 Jan 25, Syria's air force
struck rebel-held areas near Damascus and Aleppo.
(AP, 1/25/14)
2014 Jan 25, In Switzerland the
first face-to-face meeting between Syria's government and the
opposition hoping to overthrow President Bashar Assad ended after
barely a half-hour, with the two sides facing each other silently as
a UN mediator laid groundwork for talks.
(AP, 1/25/14)

2014 Jan 26, Syrians on
opposite sides of their country's civil war tried again to find
common ground in Geneva. The UN mediator said the two sides have
reached a deal to allow women and children to leave Homs, a city
under government siege for more than a year.
(AP, 1/26/14)

2014 Jan 27, In Geneva the
first meeting meant to discuss the issue of a Syrian transitional
government broke up less than an hour after it began following a
tense session that one delegate described as "a dialogue of the
deaf." UN envoy Brahimi broke up the meeting and was scheduled to
meet with both sides separately later in the day.
(AP, 1/27/14)

2014 Jan 28, Britain announced
it would take in hundreds of vulnerable Syrian refugees, targeting
those most traumatized by the 3-year civil war.
(AFP, 1/28/14)

2014 Jan 29, Syrian negotiators
in Geneva discussed the establishment of a transitional government
body for the first time.
(AP, 1/29/14)

2014 Jan 30, In Syria at least
11 people, including three children, were killed by explosive-packed
barrels dropped from government army helicopters over the town of
Daraya.
(AFP, 1/30/14)

2014 Jan 31, The Syrian
Observatory for Human Right said fighting in Syria has killed nearly
1,900 people, including at least 430 civilians, during the week of
UN-hosted peace talks in Switzerland. Negotiations in Geneva wrapped
up and were likely to resume from February 10.
(AP, 1/31/14)(AFP, 1/31/14)
2014 Jan 31, The UN distributed
food in the Syrian capital's besieged Yarmuk Palestinian refugee
camp for a second day in a bid to help tens of thousands of trapped
civilians. Government shelling killed at least 16 people in a
rebel-held area of the northern city of Aleppo.
(AFP, 1/31/14)(AP, 1/31/14)

2014 Feb 1, In Syria at least 9
people were killed when Syrian regime helicopters dropped
explosive-filled barrels on two neighborhoods of the northern city
of Aleppo. At least 7 people killed in a double car bombing carried
out by the jihadist Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL)
targeting a rebel headquarters in Aleppo.
(AFP, 2/1/14)

2014 Feb 2, Syrian military
helicopters dropped more improvised "barrel bombs" on the northern
city of Aleppo, a monitoring group said, bringing the death toll to
at least 83 people in the latest episode of a campaign many consider
a war crime. A twin car bombing killed a senior leader in an Islamic
brigade opposed to al-Qaida near Aleppo.
(Reuters, 2/2/14)(AP, 2/2/14)
2014 Feb 2, In northern Syria
ISIL fighters freed more than 400 people from a prison, who had been
held by the rival Islamist Liwa al-Tawhid unit. In the eastern
province of Deir al-Zor ISIL seized the Koniko gas field from the
Nusra Front and other Islamist rebels who had controlled it for
several weeks after wresting it from tribal gunmen.
(Reuters, 2/3/14)

2014 Feb 3, Al Qaeda's general
command said it had no links with the Islamic State in Iraq and the
Levant (ISIL), in an apparent attempt to reassert its authority over
fragmented Islamist fighters in Syria's civil war.
(Reuters, 2/3/14)

2014 Feb 4, Syrian forces
dropped a barrel bomb on the Uthman Bin Affan mosque that was being
used as a school in a rebel-held neighborhood of Aleppo, killing at
least 5 people, including children. Barrel bombs were also dropped
over other rebel-held neighborhoods in Aleppo.
(AP, 2/4/14)

2014 Feb 5, Syria missed a
deadline to hand over all the toxic materials it declared to the
world's chemical weapons watchdog, putting the program several weeks
behind schedule and jeopardizing a final June 30 deadline.
(Reuters, 2/5/14)

2014 Feb 6, The Syrian
government reached an agreement with the UN to secure the evacuation
of hundreds of trapped civilians from besieged parts of Homs. A
suicide bomber blew himself up at the gates of a prison in Aleppo
and opposition fighters stormed in freeing hundreds of prisoners.
State-run Syrian television said the army foiled an attempt by
"terrorist groups" to attack the prison.
(AP, 2/6/14)(SFC, 2/7/14, p.A6)

2014 Feb 7, Famished and
traumatized Syrians were able to leave besieged parts of Homs for
the first time in more than a year as part of a potentially ground
breaking agreement between the Syrian government and the United
Nations.
(Time.com, 2/7/14)

2014 Feb 9, In Syria the
governor Homs said that over 600 people have been evacuated from
rebel-held parts of the city, in a rare 3-day cease-fire with
rebels. Government aircraft dropped barrel bombs on Aleppo, killing
at least 11 people. Extremist Islamic rebels overran Maan village in
Hama province, populated by the Alawite minority, and killed at
least 40 people
(AP, 2/9/14)(AP, 2/10/14)

2014 Feb 10, Syria shipped out
a third consignment of chemical weapons materials and has also
destroyed some materials on its territory.
(Reuters, 2/10/14)
2014 Feb 10, Peace talks
between the Syrian government and the opposition resumed in Geneva.
(AP, 2/10/14)

2014 Feb 11, In Syria the
evacuation of civilians from besieged rebel-held areas of Homs was
suspended, as a mediator said peace talks in Switzerland were making
little progress.
(AFP, 2/11/14)

2014 Feb 12, Syrian government
forces and fighters from Lebanese ally Hezbollah pounded Syria's
strategic border town of Yabroud in apparent preparation for a new
offensive to flush out rebels. At least 51 people were reportedly
killed in Aleppo, mainly by barrel bombs dropped on eight rebel-held
districts from helicopters.
(Reuters, 2/12/14)(AP, 2/13/14)

2014 Feb 13, Syrian activists
said government shelling and airstrikes using makeshift barrel bombs
have killed about 400 people in Aleppo so far this month. The
governor of the central province of Homs says a cease-fire has been
extended for three days as of today.
(AP, 2/13/14)

2014 Feb 14, In Syria a car
bomb killed at least 32 people the town of al-Yaduda (Yadouda) near
the border with Jordan. At least 5 soldiers were killed when
Islamist rebels detonated mines under the Carlton hotel in Aleppo.
In Geneva Syrian government and opposition delegates said talks to
end their country's civil war have reached an impasse, with the US
and Russia backing the rival camps and trading accusations over the
deadlock. International mediator Lakhdar Brahimi told delegates that
he plans to take the talks into a third round.
(Reuters, 2/14/14)(AP, 2/14/14)(AFP, 2/14/14)
2014 Feb 14, The Syrian
Observatory for Human Rights said an al Qaeda splinter group (ISIL)
has executed at least 13 people including relatives of fighters from
rival rebel groups before withdrawing from a town near Aleppo. It
did not say when the incident took place in Haritan.
(Reuters, 2/14/14)

2014 Feb 16, The Western-backed
Free Syrian Army appointed a new military chief. Brig. Gen.
Abdul-Ilah al-Bashir replaces Gen. Salim Idris, who was criticized
by many in the opposition for being ineffective.
(AP, 2/17/14)

2014 Feb 17, Syrian government
troops took control of the village of Maan after destroying the last
"hideouts of terrorists, who came into the village and committed a
massacre." Anti-Assad Islamic fighters overran the village on Feb 9.
(AP, 2/18/14)

2014 Feb 18, A Syrian
government barrel bomb landed next to a school in the village of
Mzairib. 18 people were killed, including 15 Palestinian refugees.
(Econ, 2/22/14, p.40)

2014 Feb 21, The Syrian army
intensified its aerial bombardment of southern Syria as opposition
fighters were preparing to launch a wide offensive in a province
bordering Jordan. In Geneva the UN’s refugee agency called on
countries to make commitments to provide resettlement for an
additional 100,000 Syrian refugees in 2015 and 2016. A group of 38
male evacuees from besieged parts of Homs were released after
investigation, leaving almost 200 others still being held.
(AP, 2/21/14)(AFP, 2/21/14)

2014 Feb 22, Syrian state TV
said government forces have captured two rebel-held areas on the
edge of the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights. In the northeast Kurdish
members of the “People's Protection Units" captured Tel Brak in a
battle left some 19 people dead.
(AP, 2/22/14)
2014 Feb 22, In Syria Akram
al-Bunni, a prominent leftist writer and former political prisoner,
was abducted by government intelligence agents as he left a wedding
reception at a Damascus hotel.
(Reuters, 2/23/14)

2014 Feb 23, In Syria 2 suicide
bombers killed a senior al-Qaida operative, blowing themselves up
inside the militant leader's compound in Aleppo. Rebels said Abu
Khaled al-Suri was the representative of al-Qaida chief Ayman
al-Zawahri in Syria. A car bomb exploded near a charity field
hospital close to the Turkish border. At least one person was
killed. Another 60 boys and men, who were being held by Syrian
authorities after their evacuation from besieged Homs, were
released.
(AP, 2/23/14)(AFP, 2/24/14)

2014 Feb 24, In central Syria
air raids on rebel-held towns killed 18 people. Airstrikes killed
some 10 people in the northern city of Sheikh Khader.
(Reuters, 2/24/14)(AP, 2/24/14)

2014 Feb 25, In Syria Abu
Mohammed al-Golani, leader of the Nusra Front, called on the Islamic
State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) group to agree to arbitration by
religious scholars to end more than a year of feuding which has
turned violent in some areas.
(Reuters, 2/25/14)

2014 Feb 26, Syrian state media
said army troops killed 175 rebels in an ambush south of Damascus, a
major attack targeting mostly al-Qaida-linked fighters as part of a
government effort to secure the capital.
(AP, 2/26/14)

2014 Feb 27, Syrian TV said a
mortar shell landed near a hospital in a government-controlled
neighborhood of Homs, killing at least 5 people.
(AP, 2/27/14)

2014 Feb 28, Jihadi social
media said Islamist militants trying to enforce their religious
strict code in rebel-held areas of Syria have cut off the hand of an
alleged thief in Aleppo province. Members of an al-Qaida-breakaway
group (ISIL) withdrew from parts of Aleppo, ahead of a March 1
deadline issued by another rebel group. Residents found at least two
mass graves in their wake, one with 17 and the other with 5 bodies.
(Reuters, 2/28/14)(AP, 2/28/14)(AP, 3/2/14)

2014 Mar 2, In Syria gun
battles and shelling hit the Palestinian camp of Yarmuk in southern
Damascus, breaking a truce in place since mid-February.
(AFP, 3/2/14)

2014 Mar 3, Syrian troops
seized control of a village near the strategic rebel bastion of
Yabroud as they pushed closer to the town. Food deliveries to
thousands of people living in a blockaded area in southern Damascus
ground to a halt after a truce collapsed and clashes broke out
between rebels and forces loyal to the government. Fighting in and
around Yabroud killed dozens of people, including about 17 rebels,
15 government and allied militia fighters and at least 4 Hezbollah
fighters.
(AFP, 3/3/14)(AP, 3/3/14)(Reuters, 3/4/14)

2014 Mar 4, Syria's military
fought to take Yabroud, a town that would help Pres. al-Assad seal a
link between his coastal bastions and Damascus.
(AP, 3/4/14)

2014 Mar 5, The Israeli navy
seized a ship in the Red Sea that was carrying dozens of advanced
Iranian-supplied rockets made in Syria and intended for Palestinian
guerrillas in the Gaza Strip.
(Reuters, 3/5/14)

2014 Mar 6, In Syria at least
15 people were killed and 12 others wounded in a car bomb blast in
Homs. At least five people were killed and more than 20 wounded in a
bomb blast near a security headquarters in Hama. At least 17
jihadists were killed in fighting near the rebel-held town of
Yabrud.
(AFP, 3/6/14)(AFP, 3/7/14)

2014 Mar 7, Syrian warplanes
pounded an area near the rebel-held town of Yabrud near the Lebanese
border.
(AFP, 3/7/14)

2014 Mar 8, Syrian government
forces seized Zara from rebels near the Lebanese border, their
latest attempt to cut off opposition fighters' fluid supply lines
from the country. At least 20 people were killed after gunmen loyal
to Pres. Assad entered the town, one of two last strongholds for
rebels along the Lebanese border leading to the city of Homs, the
other being the nearby village of al-Hosn. Syrian cameraman Omar
Abdelqade was killed covering clashes between government forces and
opposition fighters in the eastern city of Deir al-Zor.
(AP, 3/8/14)(Reuters, 3/9/14)(SSFC, 3/9/14, p.A6)

2014 Mar 9, In Syria Ali
Moustafa, a Canadian freelance photographer, was killed alongside 7
other people after government aircraft dropped two explosive-laden
containers in the rebel-held Hadariyeh area of Aleppo.
(AP, 3/9/14)

2014 Mar 11, In northeastern
Syria 3 suicide bombers detonated their explosives belts in a local
administration building in a Kurdish town, killing at least 5
people.
(AP, 3/11/14)

2014 Mar 13, Syria's parliament
unanimously approved a new election law allowing multiple
candidates to run for president, opening the door — at least in
theory — to other potential contenders besides President Assad.
However only candidates who have lived in Syria for 10 consecutive
prior to nomination can run.
(AP, 3/13/14)(SFC, 3/14/14, p.A4)

2014 Mar 14, In Syria al Qaeda
splinter group ISIL pulled out of two provinces in the country's
northwest and headed to its eastern strongholds after months of
clashes with rival rebels. A senior commander in the Nusra Front was
killed on the outskirts of Yabroud during shelling and clashes with
the army and Hezbollah fighters.
(Reuters, 3/14/14)(Reuters, 3/15/14)

2014 Mar 15, Syrian soldiers
entered eastern districts of the town of Yabroud, the last rebel
bastion near the Lebanese border north of Damascus, and advanced
towards the main street.
(Reuters, 3/15/14)

2014 Mar 16, Syrian troops
backed by Hezbollah fighters seized Yabroud, a key rebel supply town
on the Lebanese border, driving them from the area and scoring a
major blow against them in the three-year-old-conflict.
(AP, 3/16/14)
2014 Mar 18, The Syria cabinet
proudly announced the creation of a national space agency.
(Econ, 3/22/14, p.50)
2014 Mar 18, An explosion in
the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights wounded four Israeli soldiers
near the Syrian frontier. Israeli forces responded with artillery
fire into Syrian-held territory.
(Reuters, 3/18/14)(Reuters, 3/19/14)
2014 Mar 18, Gunmen from
Lebanon's militant Hezbollah group and local Shiite residents
tightened their chokehold on Arsal, a Sunni town near the Syrian
border, sparking concerns the standoff would cut off aid to
thousands of Syrian refugees stranded in the area.
(AP, 3/18/14)
2014 Mar 18, United Nations
human rights investigators said they have added to their list of
suspected war criminals from both sides in the Syrian civil war
after a new round of atrocities in recent weeks.
(Reuters, 3/18/14)

2014 Mar 19, In Syria rebels
seized took control of the Gharaz Central Prison on the outskirts of
Deraa where the uprising began three years ago this month and freed
dozens of inmates.
(Reuters, 3/19/14)
2014 Mar 19, Syria and its
Russian ally criticized the decision by the United States to suspend
the operations of Syria's embassy in Washington and consulates in
other cities.
(Reuters, 3/19/14)
2014 Mar 19, Australia’s
Courier Mail reported that Canar Temel (22), a soldier who went AWOL
from his Brisbane unit two years ago, has turned up dead after
fighting alongside ISIL rebels in Syria.
(SSFC, 3/23/14, p.A4)
2014 Mar 19, Israel launched
air strikes against Syrian military sites in response to a roadside
bombing that wounded four of its soldiers, but both sides signaled
they were not seeking further escalation. The airstrikes in the
Golan Heights killed one Syrian soldier and wounded seven.
(Reuters, 3/19/14)(AP, 3/19/14)

2014 Mar 20, Syrian troops
raised the national flag on the Crac des Chevaliers, a famous
Crusades-era citadel near the border with Lebanon, after days of
intense fighting against opposition fighters. 93 of the opposition
fighters were reported killed as they fled to Lebanon.
(AP, 3/20/14)(AP, 3/21/14)
2014 Mar 20, Several UN aid
trucks crossed the Turkish border into Syria for the first time.
(Reuters, 3/20/14)

2014 Mar 21, In Syria 34 people
were killed as Islamists sought to seize a border crossing into
Turkey.
(AFP, 3/22/14)

2014 Mar 22, In Syria fighting
raged between rebels and loyalist forces in northern Latakia
province. Hilal al-Assad, a first cousin of the president and
president of the Syrian Arabian Horse Association, was killed in the
battle for a border crossing with Turkey in the north of Latakia.
(AFP,
3/22/14)(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Al-Assad_family)

2014 Mar 25, Syria's opposition
fighters seized Samra a Mediterranean coastal village as they pushed
to consolidate their presence in a key regime bastion near the
Turkish border.
(AFP, 3/25/14)

2014 Mar 26, In their “Kuwait
Declaration" Arab leaders called for a political solution to the
conflict in Syria, overlooking Saudi-backed demands for greater
military support for rebel forces to tip the balance in the war. The
Arab League also announced their "total rejection of the call to
consider Israel a Jewish state," in the final statement.
(AFP, 3/26/14)

2014 Mar 28, The UN's top human
rights body voted overwhelmingly to renew its war crimes
investigation in Syria for another year.
(AP, 3/28/14)

2014 Mar 29, Syrian government
forces captured two villages near the border with Lebanon,
continuing a weeks-long advance that has cut a major supply route
for weapons and fighters from eastern Lebanon.
(AP, 3/29/14)

2014 Mar 31, Syrian army troops
recaptured a key position in coastal Latakia province. Observatory
45 is a strategic hilltop that overlooks several areas inhabited by
residents from the Alawite community.
(AP, 3/31/14)

2014 Mar, In Syria Hezbollah
commandos infiltrated Syrian rebel-held territory near the Lebanese
border, watching rebel fighters come and go from a two-story villa
before slipping inside to plant a powerful bomb. The next morning,
they detonated it as three rebel explosive experts and four
assistants met inside, turning the villa to rubble in seconds.
(AP, 4/12/14)

2014 Apr 1, The Syrian
Observatory for Human Rights said at least 150,000 people have been
killed in Syria's three-year-old civil war, a third of them
civilians.
(Reuters, 4/1/14)

2014 Apr 2, In Syria Brahim
Benchakroun, a former Guantanamo detainee, was reportedly killed
while fighting government forces in Latakia province. He was better
known in Syria as Abu Ahmad al-Maghribi.
(AP, 4/3/14)

2014 Apr 3, In Syria mortar
fire killed at least six children in a suburb of Damascus. 22
opposition fighters were killed in the army's bombardment of Mleiha
east of Damascus.
(AP, 4/3/14)(AFP, 4/4/14)
2014 Apr 3, The number of
Syrian refugees who have fled to Lebanon officially topped 1
million.
(Reuters, 4/3/14)

2014 Apr 4, In Syria regime
tanks and warplanes pounded besieged Mleiha east of Damascus,
pressing a campaign to take control of the opposition-held town.
Fighting resumed in Latakia where more than 300 fighters on both
sides have been killed in the past two weeks.
(AFP, 4/4/14)
2014 Apr 4, Syria completed the
delivery of a consignment of chemical weapons materials for export
and destruction overseas.
(SFC, 4/5/14, p.A2)

2014 Apr 5, In Syria mortar
shells continued to hit Damascus and the central city of Homs amid
heavy fighting. A rocket hit Homs and struck a market in the western
neighborhood of Inshaat, killing six people. 2 fighters from the
Nusra Front, al Qaeda's affiliate in Syria, were killed in the
easterly Hasaka province during fighting around the town of Markadah
with an al Qaeda splinter group.
(AP, 4/5/14)(Reuters, 4/6/14)

2014 Apr 6, In Syria at least
13 rebel fighters were killed in a vehicle explosion in Homs. At
least 5 people including three children were reported killed in the
Damascus suburb of Douma during shelling by government forces. 2
people were killed and eight wounded when mortar fire hit the
grounds of the Damascus Opera House. Several rebels were killed
while they were rigging a car with explosives in Homs.
(Reuters, 4/6/14)(AP, 4/6/14)(AP, 4/7/14)

2014 Apr 7, In Syria the
strategic area of Rankus in Qalamun went under heavy regime shelling
and continuous air raids, ahead of a plan to storm it.
(AFP, 4/8/14)
2014 Apr 7, In Syria a masked
gunman assassinated Jesuit Father Francis Van Der Lugt (75), a
well-known, elderly Dutch priest, shooting him in the head in the
garden of a monastery where he lived in Homs.
(AP, 4/7/14)

2014 Apr 8, Syrian state media
said Iran has sent 30,000 tons of food supplies to help President
Bashar Assad's government deal with shortages amid civil war.
(AP, 4/8/14)

2014 Apr 9, In Syria forces
loyal to President Bashar al-Assad recaptured the rebel-held border
town of Rankous. Two car bombs in Homs killed at least 25 people.
(Reuters, 4/9/14)(SFC, 4/10/14, p.A4)
2014 Apr 9, Kuwait said three
of its citizens have been kidnapped in Syria and it has asked Turkey
for help in trying to secure their release. Kidnappers asked for a
ransom of 1 million euros ($1.38 million).
(Reuters, 4/10/14)

2014 Apr 11, Syria's Al-Qaeda
affiliate and its allies repulsed an assault by jihadist rivals
(ISIL) on Abu Kamal, a town on the Iraqi border, in fighting that
killed 86 people. People choking from poisoning were hospitalized
after air raids with barrel bombs on the town of Kafr Zita. State
television the next day reported that Al-Qaeda affiliate Al-Nusra
Front had released chlorine gas in an attack on the town that left
at least two people dead.
(AFP, 4/11/14)(AFP, 4/12/14)(SSFC, 4/13/14, p.A3)

2014 Apr 13, In Syria shelling
and firefights between government forces and rebels in Aleppo killed
at least 29 people over the last 24 hours. Activists from the
"Syrian Revolution in Kfar Zeita" posted video footage and pictures
of an unexploded canister with the chemical symbol for chlorine,
Cl2, on its side which they said was found in Kfar Zeita village.
Rebels and the government have blamed each other for the alleged
poison gas attacks on April 11-12.
(AP, 4/13/14)(Reuters, 4/14/14)

2014 Apr 15, Syria's army
launched a major ground assault on the central city of Homs, with
troops entering rebel-held districts under government siege for
nearly two years. Two mortar rounds landed near schools in
predominantly Christian districts Damascus, killing one child and
wounding 41 other people.
(AFP, 4/15/14)(AP, 4/15/14)
2014 Apr 15, The UN Security
Council met privately to view projected slides of bodies from the
civil war in which more than 150,000 have died. Ten of the photos
were publicly released in January in a study known as the "Caesar
Report," which was funded by the government of Qatar.
(AP, 4/15/14)

2014 Apr 16, Syrian military
airstrikes killed at least four people in Zabadani, a rebel-held
town along the Lebanese border.
(AP, 4/16/14)
2014 Apr 16, Jordanian
warplanes hit and destroyed several vehicles trying to cross the
border from Syria. The targets appeared to have been Syrian rebels
with machine guns mounted on civilian vehicles who were seeking
refugee from fighting with government forces.
(Reuters, 4/16/14)

2014 Apr 18, In Syria a bomb
went off in front of a mosque on the edge of Akrama and killed 14
people. Hundreds of rebel fighters and civilians remain trapped in
the ancient quarter of Homs, surrounded by government forces and
pro-Assad militia. In Aleppo at least 10 people were killed in
shelling and aerial bombardment of rebel-held areas.
(Reuters, 4/18/14)(AFP, 4/19/14)(SFC, 4/19/14,
p.A2)

2014 Apr 20, In Syria dozens of
people were killed in air strikes on Aleppo, including at least 29
people in a single neighborhood. Former German rapper Denis Mamadou
Cuspert, aka Deso Dogg, was among 16 killed in a suicide attack by
Al-Nusra Front in an eastern province. In Syria he had joined ISIL
and taken on the name Abu Talha al-Almani.
(Reuters, 4/21/14)(AFP, 4/22/14)

2014 Apr 21, Syria’s parliament
speaker announced that presidential elections will be held on June
3. Five people were reported killed when two mortar shells struck
central Damascus.
(AP, 4/21/14)

2014 Apr 22, Turkey’s PM Recep
Tayyip Erdogan said number of Syrian refugees in Turkey has reached
"almost one million," while pledging to keep accepting those fleeing
the war.
(AFP, 4/22/14)

2014 Apr 24, Syrian government
airstrikes targeted a vegetable market in a rebel-held town in the
northern Aleppo province, killing at least 18 people and wounding
scores of others according to the Britain-based Syrian Observatory
for Human Rights. Another activists group, the Syria-based Local
Coordination Committees also reported the airstrikes on Atareb,
saying that 24 people were killed.
(AP, 4/24/14)

2014 Apr 26, The Syrian
Observatory for Human Rights said at least 88 rebel and regime
forces have been killed in two days of clashes for control of
strategic sites in southern Daraa province.
(AFP, 4/26/14)

2014 Apr 29, In Syria two car
bombs exploded in a pro-government neighborhood, killing at least 40
people just hours after one of the deadliest mortar strikes in the
heart of Damascus killed at least 14. The Organization for the
Prohibition of Chemical Weapons said it will send a team to Syria to
investigate recent allegations about the use of chlorine gas in the
war.
(AP, 4/29/14)(SFC, 4/30/14, p.A4)

2014 Apr 30, In Syria an air
raid on a rebel-held neighborhood of Aleppo hit a school, killing 20
people, 17 of them children.
(AFP, 4/30/14)(AP, 5/1/14)
2014 Apr 30, Jordan opened a
new, sprawling tent city to accommodate tens of thousands more
Syrian refugees who are expected to flee their country's fighting in
the deadly war now in its fourth year.
(AP, 4/30/14)

2014 May 1, The Syria-based
Local Coordination Committees said clashes overnight between
Syrian government forces and opposition fighters killed 14 rebels
along a strategic corridor between Damascus and the Lebanese border.
Government aircraft struck a market in a rebel-held district of
Aleppo killing at least 33 people.
(AP, 5/1/14)(SFC, 5/2/14, p.A2)

2014 May 2, Syria's government
and rebels agreed to a ceasefire in Homs to allow hundreds of
fighters holed up in its old quarters to evacuate. Two car bombs
struck two small villages in the central province of Hama, killing
23 people, including 14 children.
(AP, 5/2/14)(AP, 5/3/14)

2014 May 4, The Britain-based
Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said heavy fighting between
rival Islamic rebel groups in eastern Syria has killed 62 fighters
and forced tens of thousands to flee their homes over the last four
days.
(AP, 5/4/14)

2014 May 5, In Syria fierce
fighting in the northern province of Aleppo killed at least 21
rebels. The clashes continued through the day and left at least 30
soldiers dead or wounded. Rockets slammed into Aleppo's residential
neighborhood of Ashrafiyeh overnight, killing 9 people.
(AP, 5/514)
2014 May 5, In Syria a least 30
soldiers were killed by the explosion of a powerful bomb in a long
tunnel that scores of rebels spent weeks digging under a checkpoint
on the northeastern outskirts of Maaret al-Numan.
(AFP, 5/6/14)
2014 May 5, A yacht and a
dinghy crammed with immigrants trying to enter Greece capsized in
the eastern Aegean Sea, leaving at least 22 dead, including 4
children, and potentially several more missing. 36 survivors were
identified as 23 Somalis, nine Syrians and three Eritreans.
(AP, 5/514)

2014 May 6, In Syria a roadside
bombing overnight killed Ali al-Nuaimi of the Nusra Front and his
wife in Daraa province. The Nusra Front is al-Qaida's affiliate in
Syria.
(AP, 5/6/14)

2014 May 7, In Syria some 1200
rebels and civilians left their last remaining bastions in the heart
of Homs under a ceasefire deal with government forces.
(AP, 5/7/14)

2014 May 8, Syrian rebels
detonated a huge bomb underneath an Aleppo hotel used by President
Bashar al-Assad's forces, destroying it The rebel Islamic Front
claimed responsibility said 50 soldiers were killed in the Carlton
Hotel blast.
(Reuters, 5/8/14)

2014 May 10, Thousands of
Syrians streamed into war-battered parts of Homs for the first time
in nearly two years, many making plans to move back just days after
rebels surrendered their strongholds to pro-government forces.
(AP, 5/10/14)

2014 May 11, Syrian activists
said ISIL, an al Qaeda splinter group, has wrested control of key
parts of the eastern province of Deir al-Zor from other rebel
groups, worsening infighting that has handicapped the insurgency
against President Bashar al-Assad.
(Reuters, 5/11/14)

2014 May 12, Syrian media said
rebels have agreed to free 1,500 families in Adra in exchange for
food and the release of jailed opponents of President Bashar
al-Assad.
(AFP, 5/12/14)

2014 May 13, UN
Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon said Lakhdar Brahimi will resign as
the joint UN-Arab League envoy on Syria after a nearly two-year
effort that failed to bring peace to the war-ravaged country.
(AP, 5/13/14)

2014 May 15, In northern Syria
an explosion near a border crossing to Turkey killed at least 43
people and wounded many others. Shelling on a government-held
neighborhood in Aleppo killed 3 people.
(AP, 5/15/14)(AP, 5/16/14)(SFC, 5/16/14, p.A4)

2014 May 16, In Syria rebels
fired a rocket that struck a government-held neighborhood in the
northern city of Aleppo, killing 13 people.
(AP, 5/16/14)
2014 May 16, UN
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon condemned a cut in water supplies in
the northern Syrian city of Aleppo that he said has deprived at
least 2.5 million people of access to potable water. Rebels from the
al-Qaida-linked Nusra Front shut down main water pumping station in
Aleppo nearly two weeks ago to punish civilians living on the
government-controlled side of the divided metropolis.
(AP, 5/17/14)

2014 May 17, In Syria Lt. Gen.
Hussein Ishaq, the head of air defenses, was killed in clashes near
Damascus as rebels attacked an air defense base near the town of
Mleiha.
(AP, 5/18/14)

2014 May 18, Syrian rebels
captured a village in the northwest, killing more than a dozen
government troops in heavy clashes and prompting the military to
carry out airstrikes to try to dislodge the fighters. The
Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said at least 18
pro-government troops and two rebels were killed in the fighting.
The Observatory also said Islamic State fighters killed at least 19
rebels near the village of Raai in Aleppo province. Abdullah Qadour
al-Hamawi, a disabled 14-year-old, was reportedly killed by a
chlorine bomb in Kfar Zeita, Ha province.
(AP, 5/18/14)(Reuters, 5/20/14)

2014 May 19, In Syria 13 people
were killed after a missile smashed into a building late today in
the town of Marea. Most of the dead were children. Hours later a
missile fired at a building in the nearby town of Azaz killed
another 10 people.
(AP, 5/20/14)

2014 May 22, Syrian troops
backed by airstrikes broke a yearlong rebel siege of a prison in
Aleppo, allowing Pres. Bashar Assad's forces to close in on a nearby
command center of a coalition of Islamist rebel groups. Rebels had
sought to free an estimated 4,000 inmates.
(AP, 5/22/14)
2014 May 22, In southern Syria
a mortar shell struck a large tent late today where supporters of
President Bashar Assad had gathered for election campaigning,
killing at least 39 people in Daraa and wounding scores.
(AP, 5/23/14)(SFC, 5/24/14, p.A4)
2014 May 22, China and Russia
vetoed a draft UN Security Council resolution to refer Syria to the
International Criminal Court for war crimes committed by both sides
in its civil war.
(AFP, 5/22/14)

2014 May 23, Syrian rebels and
government forces began a truce in an opposition-held area near the
central city of Homs. The truce in al-Waar, which lies across the
Orontes River from Homs, was meant to enable the warring sites to
negotiate an agreement that will allow the rebels to leave the area
without being attacked, or later arrested.
(AP, 5/24/14)

2014 May 24, Pope Francis
called for urgent steps to end Syria's three-year-old civil war as
he arrived in neighboring Jordan.
(Reuters, 5/24/14)

2014 May 25, Syria's Al-Qaeda
branch (Al-Nusra Front) staged four suicide bomb attacks on army
positions, leaving dozens of casualties, in a bid to cut off Idlib
province from the coast. The Syrian air force also struck the area,
killing 2 rebels and wounding another 15. A car bomb struck a
pro-government neighborhood in Homs, killing at least 10 people. One
of the suicide bombers was later identified as Abu Hurayra
al-Amriki, a US citizen from Florida. A jihadist from the Maldives
was also among the four bombers.
(AFP, 5/25/14)(AP, 5/25/14)(SFC, 5/31/14,
p.A2)(AFP, 7/26/14)

2014 May 26, Syrian rebels made
advances in the northwest, seizing several army checkpoints as they
inched closer towards taking over two major bases. Fawzi Ayoub, a
senior Lebanese-Canadian commander in the Shi'ite Muslim militant
group Hezbollah, was killed while fighting alongside Syrian
government troops against rebels. Ayoub was on the FBI's "most
wanted" list for attempting to bomb Israel.
(AFP, 5/26/14)(Reuters, 5/27/14)
2014 May 26, Jordan ordered
Syria's ambassador to leave the country within 24 hours in a
humiliating public announcement made on state-run media, accusing
him of making "offensive" statements about the kingdom.
(AP, 5/26/14)

2014 May 28, In Syria 21 people
died in a 2nd wave of barrel bomb strikes on the Mghayer district of
Aleppo.
(Reuters, 5/28/14)
2014 May 28, Syrians abroad
voted early in an election that looks certain to give Pres. Bashar
al- Assad a 3rd seven-year term as president.
(Reuters, 5/27/14)

2014 May 29, In Syria the
Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) kidnapped some 153
schoolchildren. They were on their way back to Ain al-Arab from
taking year-end school exams in the northern city of Aleppo.
(AFP, 7/1/14)

2014 May 30, The Syrian
Observatory for Human Rights said some 2,000 people have been killed
since January in regime bombing of rebel-held areas of Aleppo city
and nearby towns and villages.
(AFP, 5/31/14)

2014 May 31, In Syria at least
20 government soldiers and militia were killed in a fresh attack by
Islamist rebels, who planted explosives in a tunnel under an army
position in Aleppo.
(AFP, 5/31/14)

2014 Jun 2, In Syria 13 people
were killed overnight when government forces dropped four barrel
bombs from helicopters into rebel-held districts of Aleppo. A car
bomb killed at least 10 people in a Syrian government-held area of
the central province of Homs. Rebel rocket fire on
government-controlled areas of Aleppo killed 50 people over the
weekend.
(Reuters, 6/2/14)

2014 Jun 3, In Syria tens of
thousands pledged renewed allegiance to President Bashar Assad as
they voted in a presidential election that excluded a vast swath of
the pre-war population and was decried by the opposition as a
charade. Assad won 88.7% of the vote.
(AP, 6/3/14)(SFC, 6/5/14, p.A7)

2014 Jun 5, China offered $16
million in humanitarian assistance for refugees from the conflict in
Syria as part of Beijing's growing engagement with the Arab world.
(AP, 6/5/14)

2014 Jun 8, The Syrian
Observatory for Human Rights said a couple and their four children,
the youngest just six months old, were killed today in Syrian army
air raids in Aleppo province. ISIS crucified 3 young men in a town
near Aleppo for cooperating with rival rebels.
(AFP, 6/8/14)(Econ, 6/14/14, p.42)

2014 Jun 9, Syrian President
Bashar al-Assad announced a wide-ranging amnesty. He commuted some
death sentences to life imprisonment, reduced jail terms for many
offences and canceled some others altogether. Activists say rebel
infighting in Syria has killed 45 opposition fighters over the past
two days.
(Reuters, 6/9/14)(AP, 6/9/14)

2014 Jun 12, In Syria a car
bomb exploded in a pro-government neighborhood of Homs, killing at
least 7 people. A mortar shell hit a Damascus neighborhood and
killed one person. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights in
Britain said about 530 detainees have been released under an amnesty
program announced on June 9.
(AP, 6/12/14)(SFC, 6/13/14, p.A5)

2014 Jun 13, Jordanian border
guards opened fire on four vehicles trying to enter illegally from
Syria after they ignored orders to stop. State-run news agency did
not say whether anyone was killed or wounded in the incident.
(AP, 6/14/14)

2014 Jun 14, In eastern Syria a
strong explosion struck a weapons market in Mayadeen near the border
with Iraq, killing at least 8 people and wounding many others. State
TV said 30 terrorists were killed in the blast.
(AP, 6/14/14)

2014 Jun 15, Syrian government
forces retook Kasab, ousting rebels from the village on the Turkish
border in the coastal heartland of President Bashar al-Assad's
Alawite minority sect.
(Reuters, 6/15/14)

2014 Jun 16, Syrian military
helicopters dropped barrel bombs on a rebel-held neighborhood in
Aleppo, cleaving the fronts of apartment buildings and killing at
least 24 people. In the east a car bomb in the town of
al-Shamatiyeh, likely planted by ISIL, killed 7 people including a
judge from the al Qaeda-linked Nusra Front and a commander of Ahrar
al-Sham, another hardline Islamist group.
(AP, 6/16/14)(Reuters, 6/17/14)

2014 Jun 17, The Syrian Islamic
Council, a group of Sunni clerics that back the mainstream rebels,
formally condemned ISIS as a stooge of Pres. Assad.
(Econ, 6/21/14, p.46)

2014 Jun 19, In Syria a car
bomb exploded near a school in the pro-government Nazha district of
Homs, killing 3 people and wounding nine.
(AP, 6/20/14)

2014 Jun 20, In Syria a
powerful truck bomb exploded in the government-held village of
Horrah, near Hama, killing at least 34 civilians and wounding more
than 50. Fighters of the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL)
captured key towns in eastern Syria adjoining territory the al Qaeda
splinter group has seized in Iraq.
(AP, 6/20/14)(Reuters, 6/20/14)
2014 Jun 20, In Syria the
bullet-riddled bodies of 3 officers of the Western and Arab-backed
rebel Free Syrian Army were found, two days after suspected Islamist
militants (ISIL) kidnapped them in the oil-rich eastern province of
Deir Ezzor.
(AFP, 6/21/14)
2014 Jun 20, UN
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon urged the Security Council to impose
an arms embargo on Syria, describing foreign powers and groups as
"irresponsible" for giving military support to the warring parties
in the three-year conflict.
(Reuters, 6/20/14)

2014 Jun 21, In Syria Sunni
militants led by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant took
control of the Al-Qaim Iraq-Syria border crossing after Syrian
rebels withdrew overnight. A truce struck to end deadly fighting at
the Palestinian refugee camp of Yarmuk. Syrian warplanes pounded
parts of Muhassan, Deir el-Zour province, a day after it was stormed
by ISIL militants
(AFP, 6/21/14)(AFP, 6/22/14)(SSFC, 6/22/14, p.A5)

2014 Jun 22, Syrian troops
backed by fighters from Lebanon's Hezbollah launched an assault to
oust rebels from the foothills of the Qalamun mountains north of the
capital.
(AFP, 6/22/14)
2014 Jun 22, Iraqi military
officials said Sunni militants have captured the Turabil crossing
with Jordan and the al-Walid crossing with Syria. Militants also
seized Rutba in Anbar province, the fourth town to fall in two days.
(AP, 6/22/14)(Econ, 6/28/14, p.40)
2014 Jun 22, Israeli tanks
fired at Syrian army positions following an attack from inside Syria
that killed Mohammed Qaraqara, a 13-year-old Israeli boy, on the
occupied Golan Heights.
(Reuters, 6/22/14)

2014 Jun 23, The Syrian
government said a series of Israeli airstrikes early today hit nine
military targets, killed 4 people and wounded nine others.
(AP, 6/23/14)(SFC, 6/23/14, p.A2)
2014 Jun 23, Syria handed over
the remaining 100 tons of toxic material it had declared to the
global chemical weapons watchdog. Western governments wanted the
mission to continue to investigate numerous ambiguities in Syria's
chemical weapons declaration and several alleged chlorine gas
attacks, which they also blame on Assad's forces.
(Reuters, 6/23/14)

2014 Jun 25, Syrian government
warplanes struck a series of targets in the northern city of Raqqa,
a stronghold of an al-Qaida splinter group, killing at least 12
people. Syrian aircraft also carried out a series of airstrikes in
the eastern, oil-rich province of Deir el-Zour near the border with
Iraq. The US and Iraqi military officials confirmed that Syrian
warplanes bombed militant’s positions in and near the border
crossing in Qaim.
(AP, 6/25/14)(SFC, 6/26/14, p.A2)

2014 Jun 26, Syria's opposition
government sacked the military command of the rebel Free Syrian Army
over corruption allegations, as the White House asked lawmakers for
$500 million for moderate insurgents.
(AFP, 6/27/14)

2014 Jun 28, In Syria a car
bomb exploded in a busy market in Douma, a rebel-held suburb of
Damascus, killing at least 2 people and wounding dozens as Muslims
went shopping a day before the start of their holy month of Ramadan.
Islamist rebels waged a counter-offensive in the border town of Albu
Kamal, challenging the grip of the Islamic State in Iraq and the
Levant (ISIL).
(AP, 6/28/14)(Reuters, 6/28/14)
2014 Jun 28, In Syria the ISIL
jihadist group publicly executed and crucified 9 men, eight of them
rebels fighting both President Bashar al-Assad's regime and the
jihadists in Deir Hafer, Aleppo province.
(AFP, 6/29/14)

2014 Jun 29, The Islamic State
of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) proclaimed its leader Abu Bakr
al-Baghdadi to be caliph over territory it controls in Syria and
Iraq and demanded all Muslims around the world to pledge allegiance.
(AP, 6/30/14)

2014 Jun 30, In Syria a barrage
of mortar shells hit government-held areas of the northern city of
Idlib, killing 14 people and wounding at least 40. Heavy clashes
were reported between several Syrian rebel factions and ISIL
fighting for control of a border crossing with Iraq in eastern
Syria.
(AP, 6/30/14)

2014 Jul 1, In Syria the
jihadist Islamic State (IS) took control of the key border town of
Albu Kamal after a fierce three-day battle with rival fighters.
(AFP, 7/1/14)

2014 Jul 3, The Islamic State
of Iraq and the Levant marched across eastern Syria near the border
with Iraq, seizing towns, villages and the country's largest oil
field as rival rebel factions gave up the fight. ISIL released 32
Turkish truck drivers who they captured during a lightning offensive
across northern and western Iraq last month.
(AP, 7/3/14)

2014 Jul 4, A Syrian
warplane carried out three airstrikes in an area about four miles
(seven km) within Lebanese territory, killing a 12-year-old boy.
(AP, 7/4/14)
2014 Jul 4, In Syria Islamic
militants seized an eastern oil field near Iraq and inched closer to
the Turkish border in an attempt to consolidate their control of an
area along the length of the Euphrates river stretching through
Syria and Iraq.
(AP, 7/4/14)
2014 Jul 4, At least two dozen
US Delta Force commandos arrived on heavily armed Black Hawk
helicopters in Akrishi, a small town near the eastern Syrian city of
Raqqa on the bank of the Euphrates River in an attempt to rescue
American hostages including journalist James Foley. They reportedly
destroyed anti-aircraft weapons at a jihadist base about 3 miles (5
km) southeast of the city, but did not find hostages in the area.
(Reuters, 8/22/14)

2014 Jul 6, Syrian warplanes
bombed gunmen inside Lebanese territory on the border between the
two countries.
(AFP, 7/6/14)
2014 Jul 6, The Syrian
Observatory for Human Rights said the jihadist Islamic State group
has "forced out" some 30,000 residents after seizing Shuheil on July
3 from Al-Qaeda affiliate Al-Nusra Front.
(AP, 7/6/14)

2014 Jul 7, Syrian troops
advanced in and around Aleppo in what appeared to be an attempt to
lay siege to rebel-held parts of the city.
(AP, 7/7/14)

2014 Jul 9, Syria's
Western-backed opposition, the National Coalition, elected Hadi
al-Bahra, chief negotiator at the Geneva peace talks, as its new
president after a three-day meeting in Istanbul.
(Reuters, 7/9/14)
2014 Jul 9, Syrian rebels
rampaged through a Sunni village in the central province of Hama,
firing indiscriminately at civilians and killing 14 people,
including 7 women. At least 20 Islamic State fighters were reported
killed as a result of Syrian government airstrikes targeting a
training base for the group in the city of Raqqa.
(AP, 7/9/14)
2014 Jul 9, In northern Syria
the Islamic State group captured three Kurdish villages near Kobani
and pressed forward toward the border town. 18 Kurdish fighters were
reported killed.
(AP, 7/10/14)
2014 Jul 9, The US Treasury
Department sanctioned three companies suspected of aiding the Syrian
government: Pangates International Corp., a petroleum company based
in the United Arab Emirates, Expert Partners and Megatrade, two
Syrian-based companies.
(AP, 7/9/14)

2014 Jul 10, In Syria rebels,
including members of the al-Qaida-linked Nusra Front, attacked the
village of Rahjan, Hama province killing 18 soldiers and
pro-government gunmen.
(AP, 7/11/14)

2014 Jul 13, Syria's Kurds
approved compulsory military service for their men to help ward off
a push by Islamic extremists in the predominantly Kurdish areas in
northern Syria.
(AP, 7/17/14)

2014 Jul 14, In Syria the Al
Qaeda offshoot Islamic State expelled rival rebels from the eastern
city of Deir al-Zor, tightening its grip on the oil-producing
province abutting territory it also controls in Iraq. Heavy clashes
broke out between Syrian rebels and Hezbollah fighters near the
Syria-Lebanon border.
(Reuters, 7/14/14)(AP, 7/14/14)
2014 Jul 14, Hundreds of
Kurdish fighters entered Kobane, northern Syria, to help battle
jihadists besieging the Kurdish city of Ain al-Arab.
(AFP, 7/15/14)

2014 Jul 15, Israeli warplanes
struck three administrative and military targets in Syria's Golan at
dawn, killing 2 security guards and 2 women. The air raids came
after the Israeli army said a rocket fired from Syria hit the
Israeli-occupied sector of the Golan Heights.
(AFP, 7/15/14)

2014 Jul 16, Syria’s President
Bashar Assad (48) was sworn in, marking the start of his third
seven-year term in office. Syria's civil war, now in its fourth
year, has killed more than 170,000 people and displaced one third of
the country's population.
(AP, 7/16/14)

2014 Jul 17, In central Syria
Islamic militants killed as many as 270 Syrian troops, guards and
workers as they captured the Shaar (Shaer) gas field in the desert
region of Palmyra following daylong clashes. At least 40 militants
were also reported killed. The fate of more than 200 people captured
in the facility was unknown. Military helicopters dropped barrels
packed with explosives on Morek. More than 20 bombs were dropped by
aircraft and least 15 people, including 4 civilians, were killed in
the fighting.
(AFP, 7/17/14)(AP, 7/17/14)(AP, 7/18/14)(SFC,
7/19/14, p.A2)(Reuters, 7/19/14)
2014 Jul 17, In northern Syria
Jihadists in Tabaqa, Raqa province, accused a woman of adultery and
stoned her to death.
(AFP, 7/18/14)

2014 Jul 18, Syrian government
forces launched a counter-attack to recapture the Shaer gas field
seized by Islamic extremists, as the death toll from three days of
fighting there rose to more than 200 people killed.
(AP, 7/19/14)
2014 Jul 18, In Syria jihadi
fighters, mostly foreign extremists, pelted Faddah Ahmad with stones
for alleged adultery in Raqqa until her body was dragged away.
(AP, 8/9/14)

2014 Jul 21, Syrian rebels
battled jihadists from the Islamic State (IS) near Damascus,
pressing their bid to expel them from their strongholds.
(AP, 7/21/14)

2014 Jul 22, In Syria 6
children from the same family were killed in an air strike by
government forces on Wahshiyeh village, Aleppo province. A
15-year-old was killed in an air raid on Latamneh, Hama province. A
girl (7) died in army shelling near Jisr al-Shughur, Idlib province.
(AFP, 7/23/14)
2014 Jul 22, The Western-backed
National Coalition of Syrian opposition members said it had voted to
force out its "interim government" and form a new one within a
month.
(Reuters, 7/22/14)

2014 Jul 24, In northern Syria
fighters from the extremist Islamic State group stormed parts of the
besieged Division 17 army base, setting off clashes that left dozens
killed or wounded on both sides in Raqqa province.
(AP, 7/24/14)

2014 Jul 25, In Syria an
offensive by the jihadist Islamic State group against
government-held territory killed at least 85 people in the past 24
hours mainly in Hasakeh and Raqa. Rebels decapitated most of the
soldiers and hung several heads outside the base gates. Rebels shot
down a helicopter gunship over Camp Nairab, a slum in Aleppo,
killing 3 crew members and a child.
(AFP, 7/25/14)(AP, 7/26/14)(Reuters, 7/27/14)

2014 Jul 26, In northern Syria
a car bomb exploded in Azaz town near the Turkish border, killing
and wounding a number of people. The Syrian army recaptured the
Shaar (Shaer) gas field east of Homs that was seized by hardline
Islamic State fighters earlier this month. The Islamic State said
the fighters pulled out after destroying the field's equipment and
capturing at least 15 tanks and dozens of rockets which were used to
guard the field.
(AP, 7/26/14)(Reuters, 7/27/14)

2014 Jul 27, In Syria the
Islamic State killed 15 Syrian rebels in an ambush as the jihadists
tried to advance on Aleppo province. Rebels in Hama province
captured Khattab and Rahbeh villages. In Homs city 7 people were
killed and 20 wounded in a car bomb attack on an Alawite district.
(Reuters, 7/27/14)(AFP, 7/27/14)

2014 Jul 28, Opposition
activists said more than 2,000 Syrians — almost half of them
pro-government forces — have been killed in just over two weeks of
fighting in Syria, making it one of the worst death tolls in the
country's civil war.
(AP, 7/28/14)

2014 Jul 30, In Syria the
number of people killed in army shelling on Douma, an
opposition-held town northeast of Damascus, rose to 17. Fighting
between the IS and Kurds killed 14 members of the Kurdish People's
Protection Units (PYG) and 35 IS members.
(AFP, 7/31/14)
2014 Jul 30, Human Rights Watch
said the Syrian government has escalated its use of barrel bombs
against densely populated areas near Aleppo in defiance of a UN
Security Council resolution banning their use.
(SFC, 7/31/14, p.A5)

2014 Aug 2, In Syria Yaacub
al-Omar, the local chief of Al-Qaeda's affiliate Al-Nusra Front, was
killed overnight died in an apparent assassination after a bomb went
off in his car in Idlib province. Syrian troops backed by Hezbollah
fighters killed at least 50 jihadists from the Islamic State and
Al-Nusra Front groups in overnight clashes near the border with
Lebanon.
(AP, 8/2/14)(AFP, 8/2/14)
2014 Aug 2, In Lebanon fighting
began in the eastern border town of Arsal after troops detained
Syrian citizen Imad Ahmad Jomaa, who identified himself as a member
of the Nusra Front.
(AP, 8/3/14)

2014 Aug 3, In Syria regime air
strikes and rebel mortar fire killed 17 people in Douma, 15 in Kfar
Batna, and 12 in Damascus.
(AP, 8/4/14)
2014 Aug 3, Syrian rebels
killed 8 Lebanese soldiers and claimed to have captured a dozen
security force members in a cross-border raid. Lebanese soldiers
traded fire with Islamist gunmen and shelled areas around the border
town of Arsal aiming to roll back the biggest incursion by militants
into Lebanon since Syria's civil war began.
(AP, 8/3/14)(Reuters, 8/3/14)

2014 Aug 5, Saudi Arabian King
Abdullah granted $1 billion to help the Lebanese army to bolster
security as they battle militants who have seized the border town of
Arsal on the Syrian frontier.
(Reuters, 8/6/14)

2014 Aug 6, In Syria Jihadists
from the Islamic State group seized parts of a military base in Raqa
province after launching triple suicide bomb attacks at its gates.
Heavy fighting with troops continued at Brigade 93 in Raqa.
(AFP, 8/7/14)
2014 Aug 6, The Italian foreign
ministry said two Italian aid workers have been kidnapped while
working on humanitarian projects in Aleppo, Syria.
(Reuters, 8/6/14)

2014 Aug 8, In Syria Islamic
State jihadists captured the key Brigade 93 Syrian army base in Raqa
province overnight. 36 soldiers were killed, some of whom were
beheaded, while others died in the fighting or in the initial triple
suicide bombing that launched the attack.
(AFP, 8/8/14)

2014 Aug 10, In eastern Syria
Islamic militants crushed a tribal uprising against their rule after
three days of clashes in three eastern villages near the border with
Iraq.
(AP, 8/11/14)

2014 Aug 13, The Syrian
Observatory for Human Rights said Islamic State insurgents have
seized eight towns and villages from rival Islamist groups in Aleppo
province. The fighting left 52 people dead. The Observatory also
reported two more crucifixions by Islamic State in Deir al-Zor
overnight.
(Reuters, 8/13/14)(AFP, 8/13/14)

2014 Aug 16, The Syrian
Observatory for Human Rights said the Islamic State militant group
has executed 700 members of the al-Sheitaat (Shueitat) tribe it has
been battling in eastern Syria during the past two weeks.
(Reuters, 8/16/14)(SFC, 8/19/14, p.A5)

2014 Aug 17, In Syria forces
loyal to Pres. Bashar al-Assad hammered the eastern city of Raqqa
with more than two dozen air strikes. At least 31 Islamic State
militants and 8 civilians died in the air force raids in Raqa
province, a stronghold of the jihadist fighters.
(Reuters, 8/17/14)(AFP, 8/17/14)

2014 Aug 18, The Syrian
authorities and rebels agreed to a truce in the southern Damascus
district of Qadam which was a battlefield for more than a year.
(AFP, 8/18/14)

2014 Aug 19, In eastern Syria
government forces stepped up air strikes on Islamic State positions
in and around the city of Raqqa. The Britain-based Syrian
Observatory for Human Rights said the jihadist Islamic State has
more than 50,000 fighters in Syria and recruited 6,000 last month
alone.
(Reuters, 8/19/14)(AFP, 8/19/14)
2014 Aug 19, Japan’s Kyodo news
agency reported that the Islamic State militant group has claimed
responsibility for detaining Haruna Yukawa, a doctor an d a
journalist, in Syria in a post on the Internet.
(Reuters, 8/19/14)
2014 Aug 19, Fighters from
Lebanon's Hezbollah reportedly killed Abu Abdullah al-Iraqi, a top
jihadist from the Islamic State group in Syria, who allegedly
planned bloody attacks in Lebanon.
(AFP, 8/19/14)
2014 Aug 19, Islamic State
militants posted a video that showed the beheading of American
journalist James Foley in revenge for US air strikes against the
insurgents in Iraq. Foley (40) was kidnapped by armed men on Nov.
22, 2012, in northern Syria while on his way to the Turkish border.
Prior to the execution militants had sent an e-mail demanding $132.5
million in exchange for Foley. Steven Sotloff, who appeared at the
end of the video, went missing in northern Syria while reporting in
July 2013.
(Reuters, 8/20/14)(SFC, 8/21/14, p.A3)

2014 Aug 20, In Syria Islamic
extremists fired rockets and tank shells at a the Taqba air base in
the northeast, kicking off a long-anticipated offensive to seize the
last position held by the Syrian government in Raqqa province, a
stronghold of the Islamic State group.
(AP, 8/20/14)
2014 Aug 20, The United States
launched a new barrage of airstrikes against the Islamic State
extremist group that beheaded American journalist James Foley and
that has seized a swath of territory across Iraq and Syria.
(AP, 8/20/14)

2014 Aug 21, Syrian troops
killed dozens of jihadi fighters, including a prominent media
activist, in heavy clashes around Tabqa air base, Raqa province,
that the Islamic State group is trying to seize. The Syrian
Observatory for Human Rights said at least 70 Islamic State jihadist
fighters have been killed in 48 hours of clashes with Syrian army
troops.
(AP, 8/21/14)(AFP, 8/22/14)

2014 Aug 22, The UN reported
that the death toll from three years of Syria's civil war has risen
to more than 191,000 people.
(AP, 8/22/14)
2014 Aug 22, The US imposed
sanctions on Abdul Mohsen Abdallah Ibrahim al Sharekh, a Saudi
citizen and allegedly the head of Al-Qaeda operations in Syria, and
Hamid Hamad Hamid al-Ali of Kuwait.
(AFP, 8/22/14)

2014 Aug 23, In Syria jihadists
from the Islamic State group seized Tabqa military airport. 346
Islamic State fighters were killed and more some 200 members of the
security forces died in five days of fighting over the base.
(Reuters, 8/27/14)(AFP, 8/28/14)

2014 Aug 24, In Syria at least
32 rebels were reported killed in an army ambush on a rebel convoy
in the southern province of Daraa.
(AFP, 8/24/14)
2014 Aug 24, Peter Theo Curtis
(45), an American journalist kidnapped and held hostage for nearly
two years by an al-Qaida-linked group in Syria, was released in the
Golan Heights. Curtis Massachusetts wrote under the byline Theo
Padnos.
(AP, 8/24/14)

2014 Aug 27, Syrian rebels,
including fighters from an al-Qaida-linked group, seized control of
a frontier crossing with Israel in the Golan Heights after heavy
clashes with Pres. Assad's forces. The heavy fighting that left at
least 20 Syrian soldiers and an unknown number of rebels dead.
Dozens of Syrian soldiers escaping Tabqa were captured as they
attempted to cross the desert to government-held territory in the
Orontes Valley to the west.
(AP, 8/27/14)(AFP, 8/28/14)

2014 Aug 28, Syrian regime air
strikes killed six IS leaders. The Islamic State said it has
executed more than 160 Syrian soldiers in three different places in
Raqa province yesterday and at dawn today.
(AFP, 8/28/14)
2014 Aug 28, In the
Israeli-occupied Golan Heights a group of 44 UN peacekeepers from
Fiji were detained by militants fighting the Syrian army in the
vicinity of Al Qunaytirah. 81 troops from the Philippines had their
movements restricted.
(Reuters, 8/28/14)(SFC, 8/30/14, p.A6)

2014 Aug 29, Syrian lawyer
Mudar Hassan Khadur, a pro-government activist who launched a social
media campaign calling on officials to provide information about
hundreds of missing soldier, was arrested.
(Reuters, 9/1/14)
2014 Aug 29, In Syria 44 Fijian
soldiers working as UN peacekeepers remained captive to a militant
group while 75 Philippine soldiers were in tense standoff with the
rebels.
(AP, 8/29/14)

2014 Aug 30, In Syria a
firefight erupted between a group of Philippine peacekeepers trapped
on the Syrian side of the Golan Heights and Islamist militants
surrounding their position. 44 Fijian peacekeepers were captured on
Aug 28 at their post about eight km away from the Philippine troops.
35 Filipino peacekeepers were escorted out of a UN encampment in
Breiqa by Irish and Filipino forces on armored vehicles.
(Reuters, 8/30/14)
2014 Aug 30, The Syrian
Observatory for Human Rights said several dozen Yazidi women,
kidnapped by Islamic State jihadists in Iraq, have been taken to
Syria, forced to convert and sold into marriage to militants.
(AFP, 8/30/14)
2014 Aug 30, A video posted on
social media showed Islamic State militants beheading a Lebanese
soldier who was one of 19 captured by hardline Syrian Islamists when
they seized a Lebanese border town for few days this month. Hours
later, the group posted a second video showing nine other soldiers
begging for their lives.
(Reuters, 8/30/14)
2014 Aug 30, Syria’s Nusra
Front, an al-Qaida affiliate, freed five members of the Lebanese
security forces seized in Arsal earlier this month.
(AP, 8/31/14)

2014 Aug 31, In Syria 40
Filipino peacekeepers escaped their besieged outpost in the Golan
Heights after a seven-hour gunbattle with Syrian rebels. The
al-Qaida-linked Nusra Front acknowledged holding Fijian troops and
displayed 45 ID cards.
(AP, 8/31/14)
2014 Aug 31, The Syrian
Observatory for Human Rights monitoring group said at least 42
children have been killed in government air strikes and shelling
across Syria in the last 36 hours.
(AFP, 8/31/14)

2014 Sep 1, In Syria heavy
fighting erupted between the Syrian army and Islamist rebels on the
Golan Heights, where 44 peacekeepers from Fiji were being held by
militants.
(Reuters, 9/1/14)
2014 Sep 1, The Syrian
Observatory for Human Rights said raids by government forces hunting
suspected Islamic State infiltrators in the northeast town of
Hasakeh have sparked an exodus of more than 60,000 civilians in
three days.
(AFP, 9/1/14)

2014 Sep 2, Syrian government
air strikes in the eastern province of Deir Ezzor killed 16 people,
including 10 children.
(AFP, 9/6/14)
2014 Sep 2, Islamic State
militants issued a threat to President Vladimir Putin, vowing to
oust him and "liberate" the volatile North Caucasus over his support
of the Syrian regime.
(AFP, 9/4/14)
2014 Sep 2, Fiji military
commander Brig. Gen. Mosese Tikoitoga said the Nusra Front has made
three demands for the release of peacekeepers: to be taken off the
UN terrorist list; the delivery of humanitarian aid to parts of the
Syrian capital of Damascus; and payment for three of its fighters it
says were killed in a shootout with UN officers.
(AP, 9/2/14)

2014 Sep 3, In eastern Syria 16
people, among them 10 children, were reported killed as a government
air strike hit a bus on the road between eastern Deir Ezzor province
and Damascus as it passed through the Shula area. State television
said that the jihadist Islamic State group had killed the
passengers, putting the death toll at 13.
(AFP, 9/3/14)

2014 Sep 4, In eastern Syria 18
foreign fighters from the Islamic State, including an American
jihadist, were killed in a Syrian air raid on a town near the
militant group's main stronghold city of Raqqa. Top Islamic State
leaders who happened to be in the municipal building of Gharbiya at
the time of the raid were among the foreign fighters killed. Two
raids on southern and northern parts of Raqqa killed 53 people
including 31 civilians. Another air raid hit a former intelligence
headquarters in Abu Kamal also killed an undisclosed number of IS
members. Residents of Ashara, in the mostly IS-controlled eastern
province of Deir Ezzor, protested in front of an IS headquarters,
hours after government air strikes killed 2 children, 5 women and a
man.
(Reuters, 9/4/14)(AFP, 9/5/14)(AFP, 9/6/14)

2014 Sep 5, In Ashara, Syria,
the Islamic State publicly executed and crucified a young man
identified as Ali Khalaf, accusing him of "heresy and apostasy."
(AFP, 9/5/14)

2014 Sep 6, Syria launched a
series of airstrikes targeting Raqqa, a stronghold of the Islamic
State extremist group, killing at least 41 people, most of whom died
when one missile slammed into a crowded bakery.
(AP, 9/6/14)(SSFC, 9/7/14, p.A5)(Reuters, 9/8/14)

2014 Sep 8, The Syrian
Observatory for Human Rights said government warplanes killed at
least 60 civilians including a dozen children in two days of air
strikes on Islamic State-held territory at the weekend.
(Reuters, 9/8/14)

2014 Sep 9, In northwest Syria
a blast hit a meeting of Islamist insurgent group Ahrar al-Sham in
Idlib province. Hassan Aboud, the group's leader, was among 47 top
members killed.
(Reuters, 9/10/14)(AFP, 9/10/14)

2014 Sep 11, In Syria the
al-Qaida-linked Nusra Front released all 45 Fijian peacekeepers held
captive for the last two weeks.
(SFC, 9/12/14, p.A4)

2014 Sep 16, In Syria a
government warplane crashed into the city of Raqqa, the defacto
capital of the Islamic State. At least 8 people were killed.
Jihadists claimed to have shot it down. At least 48 people were
killed by government airstrikes over the last two days in Talbiseh.
In Damascus at least 18 fighters were killed after two groups of
rebels crawled into the city through sewers to attack a government
checkpoint.
(AFP, 9/16/14)(AP, 9/17/14)(SFC, 9/17/14, p.A4)
2014 Sep 16, In Syria at least
15 children died after receiving vaccinations for measles in the
northwestern province of Idlib.
(AP, 9/17/14)

2014 Sep 18, Islamic State
fighters backed by tanks captured 21 Kurdish villages over the past
24 hours in northern Syria near the Turkish border, prompting
civilians to flee their homes amid fears of retribution by the
extremists sweeping through the area.
(AP, 9/18/14)
2014 Sep 18, Turkish PKK
rebels, who have spent three decades fighting for autonomy for
Turkey's Kurds, called for the youth of the country's mostly Kurdish
southeast to join the fight against Islamic State militants in
northern Syria.
(Reuters, 9/18/14)

2014 Sep 20, In northern Syria
the Islamic State executed at least 11 civilians, including at least
two boys. It has seized at least 64 villages around Kobani since Sep
16, using heavy arms and thousands of fighters. At least 300 Kurdish
fighters crossed from Turkey into Syria overnight to battle
jihadists from the Islamic State group trying to seize Kobani, a
strategic border town.
(AFP, 9/20/14)(Reuters, 9/21/14)

2014 Sep 21, Syrian government
air raids reportedly killed 19 people, including 6 children, outside
the city of Saraqeb, and another 23 people, among them 10 children,
in the town of Ehsim.
(AFP, 9/22/14)
2014 Sep 21, Kurdish militants
in Turkey issued a new call to arms to defend the border town of
Kobani, Syria, from advancing Islamic State fighters. Turkish
authorities and the UN prepared for a surge in refugees. Clashes
overnight reportedly killed 10 insurgents, bringing the number of IS
fighters killed to at least 39. At least 27 Kurdish fighters have
died.
(Reuters, 9/21/14)

2014 Sep 22, Syrian Kurds
battled to defend Kobani, a key border town from an Islamic State
advance, as Kurdish youths from neighboring Turkey rushed to their
aid, heightening the pressure on Ankara to act against the Islamist
insurgents.
(Reuters, 9/22/14)

2014 Sep 23, The Syrian
military pressed its campaign against the rebels unabated, shelling
and carrying out air strikes in the southern province of Deraa and
the outskirts of Damascus, as well as Raqqa and Idlib provinces.
(Reuters, 9/23/14)
2014 Sep 23, Israel downed a
Syrian warplane over the Golan Heights in the first such incident in
three decades and warned it would respond "forcefully" if its
security is threatened.
(AFP, 9/23/14)
2014 Sep 23, The United States
and its Arab allies bombed Syria for the first time. Bahrain,
Jordan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates
participated in or supported the strikes against Islamic State
targets. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said at least 70
Islamic State fighters were killed in strikes that hit at least 50
targets in Raqqa and Deir al-Zor and Hasakah provinces. It also said
at least 50 fighters and 8 civilians were killed in strikes
targeting al Qaeda's Syrian affiliate, the Nusra Front, in northern
Aleppo and Idlib provinces.
(Reuters, 9/23/14)
2014 Sep 23, In Syria Mohsin
al-Fadhli, a leader of the al Qaeda-linked Khorasan group, was
killed in a US airstrike. The group had been labelled by US
intelligence based on an ancient name for a region that includes
parts of Afghanistan, Iran and Turkmenistan. Some people have said
the Prophet Muhammad predicted the region would produce a triumphant
army under black flags.
(AP, 9/28/14)(TIME, 10/20/14, p.12)

2014 Sep 24, American warplanes
pounded Islamic State positions in Syria for a 2nd day at a
strategic post on the Iraqi border, but the campaign did nothing to
halt the fighters' advance on the Kurdish town of Kobani where
nearly 140,000 refugees have fled. Al Qaeda's Syrian affiliate, the
Nusra Front, evacuated its bases in populated areas of the Idlib
region after US-led forces carried out air strikes on the group.
(Reuters, 9/24/14)

2014 Sep 25, French fighter
jets struck targets in Iraq and the US and its allies stepped up air
raids in Syria against Islamic State militants. The strikes
reportedly killed 14 Islamic State fighters and at least 5
civilians. US-led airstrikes targeted Syrian oil installations held
by the extremist Islamic State group.
(Reuters, 9/25/14)(AP, 9/25/14)

2014 Sep 27, Air strikes hit
Islamic State and other Islamist groups in eastern Syria. US strikes
hit the besieged area around Kobani and forces from Saudi Arabia,
Jordan and the UAE contributed to strikes around the country.
(Reuters, 9/27/14)(SSFC, 9/28/14, p.A8)

2014 Sep 28, In Syria
airstrikes likely carried out by the US-led coalition struck an oil
refinery held by the Islamic State group, shaking buildings and
sending flames shooting into the air near the Turkish border.
(AP, 9/28/14)

2014 Sep 29, In Syria US-led
coalition air raids overnight and today targeted towns and villages
in northern and eastern Syria controlled by the Islamic State group,
including one strike that hit a grain silo and reportedly killed
civilians.
(AP, 9/29/14)
2014 Sep 29, Turkish tanks and
armored vehicles took up positions on a hill overlooking the
besieged Syrian border town of Kobani as shelling by Islamic State
insurgents intensified and stray fire hit Turkish soil.
(Reuters, 9/29/14)

2014 Sep 30, In Syria US-led
coalition airstrikes targeted Islamic State fighters pressing their
offensive against Kobani near the Syrian-Turkish border in an
attempt to halt the militants' advance. Islamic State militants
captured the deserted Kurdish village of Siftek and appeared to be
using it as a headquarters from which to launch attacks on Kobani
itself. 5 anti-Islamic State Kurdish fighters, including 3 women,
and 4 Syrian Arab rebels were detained and beheaded 14 km west of
Kobani.
(AP, 9/30/14)(Reuters, 10/1/14)

2014 Oct 1, In Syria coalition
jets launched air strikes on insurgents besieging Kobani, a town on
the southern border of Turkey. Dozens of militants and Kurdish
fighters were killed in clashes overnight. Twin car bombings near a
school killed at least 32 people, including 25 children in a
government-controlled area of Homs.
(Reuters, 10/1/14)(AP, 10/1/14)(SFC, 10/3/14,
p.A2)
2014 Oct 1, Turkish Pres.
Tayyip Erdogan said Turkey will fight against Islamic State and
other "terrorist" groups in the region but will stick to its aim of
seeing Syrian President Bashar al-Assad removed from power.
(Reuters, 10/1/14)

2014 Oct 3, In Syria coalition
warplanes destroyed one insurgent vehicle and killed 5 fighters
during raids in the countryside to the east and south of Kobani. 10
Kurdish fighters were also killed in heavy fighting that carried on
long into the night.
(Reuters, 10/4/14)
2014 Oct 3, A video was posted
on YouTube showing Alan Henning (47), a British taxi driver,
kneeling before a masked knife man against a desert setting. Henning
had been part of an aid convoy taking medical supplies to a hospital
in northwest Syria in December last year when it was stopped by
gunmen and he was abducted. He was the fourth hostage to have been
beheaded by Islamic State (IS).
(Reuters, 10/4/14)

2014 Oct 5, Kurdish forces
battled overnight with Islamists trying to seize a hill overlooking
a Syrian border town with Turkey as US-led coalition warplanes
carried out raids on the militants. At least 11 Kurdish fighters and
16 Islamic State insurgents were killed in the overnight clashes.
(Reuters, 10/5/14)
2014 Oct 5, Gunmen crossed from
Syria into eastern Lebanon and attacked posts of the Shiite movement
Hezbollah, sparking fierce clashes. The Nusra Front attacked several
Hezbollah positions on the Lebanese and Syrian side of the border
simultaneously. At least 8 Hezbollah fighters were reported killed.
(AFP, 10/5/14)(AP, 10/6/14)
2014 Oct 5, In northwestern
Syria Franciscan Father Hanna Jallouf and 20 other Christians were
seized by Al-Qaeda affiliate Al-Nusra Front at Qunyeh village, Idlib
province. Father Jallouf was released on Oct 9.
(AFP, 10/7/14)(AP, 10/9/14)

2014 Oct 6, Syrian government
forces seized control of a strategic area outside Damascus used by
rebels to fire mortar shells at the capital. The Islamic State
raised its flag on a building on the outskirts of the frontier town
of Kobani after an assault of almost three weeks, but the town's
Kurdish defenders said its fighters had not reached the city center.
At least 30 people were killed in two suicide attacks on two
checkpoints run by Kurdish fighters in the northeastern city of
Hasakah.
(AFP, 10/6/14)(Reuters, 10/6/14)

2014 Oct 7, Turkey's president
said Kobani was "about to fall" after Islamic State fighters
advanced into the south west of the Syrian Kurdish town, pressing
home a three-week assault has cost a reported 412 lives. More than
2,000 Syrian Kurds including women and children were evacuated from
the town after the latest fighting.
(Reuters, 10/7/14)

2014 Oct 8, In southeast Turkey
at least 21 people were killed in riots, the deadliest street unrest
in years, after the Kurdish minority rose up in fury at the
government's refusal to protect a besieged Syrian town from Islamic
State. US-led air strikes appeared to have pushed Islamic State
fighters back to the edges of Kobani.
(Reuters, 10/8/14)(Reuters, 10/9/14)

2014 Oct 9, Islamic State
fighters seized more than a third of the Syrian border town of
Kobani, as US-led air strikes failed to halt their advance and
Turkish forces nearby looked on without intervening. Two police
officers were shot dead in an apparent attempt to assassinate a
police chief in Turkey’s eastern province of Bingol. Four of the
alleged attackers were later killed and two more caught after a
shootout with security forces. In Gaziantep province 4 people killed
and 20 wounded as armed clashes broke out overnight between
protesters calling for solidarity with Kobani.
(Reuters, 10/9/14)(Reuters, 10/10/14)

2014 Oct 10, In Syria militants
fought deeper into the Syrian Kurdish town of Kobani in full view of
Turkish tanks that have done nothing to intervene. At least 31
people have been killed in three days of riots and street violence
across Turkey’s mainly Kurdish southeast.
(Reuters, 10/10/14)

2014 Oct 11, Kurdish forces
defending Kobani urged a US-led coalition to escalate air strikes on
Islamic State fighters who controlled more than a third of the
Syrian town at the border with Turkey. 36 jihadi fighters were
reportedly killed in Kobani.
(Reuters, 10/11/14)(AP, 10/12/14)

2014 Oct 12, The US Central
Command said warplanes from the United States, Saudi Arabia and the
United Arab Emirates conducted four airstrikes in Syria over the
weekend, including three in Kobani that destroyed an Islamic State
fighting position and staging area.
(AP, 10/12/14)

2014 Oct 13, In Syria Abu
Aboud, the head of "White Shroud," said the group has killed more
than 100 Islamic State fighters in attacks in Deir al-Zor province
in recent months and that the group’s main aim is to generate fear
in Islamic State's ranks. The government carried out some 40 air
strikes in Hama and Idlib provinces.
(Reuters, 10/13/14)(Econ, 10/18/14, p.47)
2014 Oct 13, Kurdish fighters
engaged in fierce clashes with jihadists on the Turkish border near
Kobane, as Ankara denied allowing Washington to use its bases
against the Islamic State group.
(AFP, 10/13/14)
2014 Oct 13, US Central Command
said the US and Saudi Arabia launched eight airstrikes yesterday and
today against Islamic State targets in Syria, including seven near
Kobani.
(Reuters, 10/13/14)

2014 Oct 14, At least 10 Syrian
soldiers were killed in clashes with Islamic State group jihadists
in the eastern province of Deir Ezzor. At least 12 people killed in
Syrian regime air strikes on the Ain Tarma area outside the capital
Damascus. The regime also carried out air strikes against Irbin,
where at least 5 people were killed.
(AFP, 10/14/14)

2014 Oct 15, Kurdish
militiamen, bolstered by intensified US-led coalition airstrikes,
fought pitched street battles with the extremists in Kobani, a
Syrian Kurdish border town near Turkey, making small advances. US
military fighter and bomber planes carried out 14 air strikes
against Islamic State targets near Kobani.
(AP, 10/15/14)(Reuters, 10/16/14)
2014 Oct 15, The US Pentagon
named it fight against Islamic State militants in Iraq and Syria as
Operation Inherent Resolve.
(SFC, 10/16/14, p.A3)

2014 Oct 17, It was reported
that Iraqi pilots who have joined Islamic State in Syria are
training members of the group to fly in three fighter jets captured
from the Syrian military. In eastern Syria a US-led coalition
airstrike on a gas distribution facility in Khasham, Deir el-Zour
province, a stronghold of the Islamic State group, set off a series
of secondary explosions and killed at least 8 people.
(Reuters, 10/17/14)(AP, 10/18/14)

2014 Oct 18, In Syria US-led
coalition jets pounded suspected Islamic State targets at least six
times in Kobani after the fiercest shelling in days by the
insurgents shook the town's center and hit border areas within
Turkey. Syrian government forces shelled neighborhoods in Damascus,
the southern province of Deraa and the central province of Homs.
Islamic State militants fired 44 mortars at Kurdish parts of Kobani.
Two Islamic State car bombs hit Kurdish positions leading to
casualties.
(Reuters, 10/18/14)(AP, 10/19/14)

2014 Oct 19, In Syria Islamic
State fighters continued to hit Kurdish defenders in Kobani with
mortars. The Observatory said 70 Islamic State fighters had been
killed in the past two days.
(Reuters, 10/19/14)

2014 Oct 20, Turkey said it
would allow Iraqi Kurdish fighters to reinforce fellow Kurds in the
Syrian town of Kobani, while the US air-dropped arms for the first
time to help the defenders resist an Islamic State assault. At least
one cache of the US airdropped weapons were seized by Islamioc State
fighters.
(Reuters, 10/20/14)(SFC, 10/22/14, p.A4)

2014 Oct 21, In Syria Islamic
State won territory from government forces in the eastern city of
Deir al-Zor, its first gain there in about two months. A monitoring
group reported that a man and a woman have been stoned to death for
adultery in separate executions in jihadist-controlled areas.
Government airstrikes hit the rebel-held town of Nasib, along the
country's southern border with Jordan, killing at least 8 people.
(Reuters, 10/21/14)(AP, 10/21/14)(SFC, 10/22/14,
p.A4)

2014 Oct 22, Syria said its air
force has destroyed two of three warplanes reportedly seized by
fighters of the Islamic State group in the north of the country.
(AFP, 10/22/14)

2014 Oct 23, In Syria
government shelling in the northern village of Tel Qrah killed at
least 9 people.
(AP, 10/24/14)
2014 Oct 23, Turkish President
Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that 200 Iraqi Kurd peshmerga fighters
would travel through Turkey to join the battle in Kobane, where
about 1,000 IS militants are believed to be fighting. US-led air
strikes in Syria were reported to have killed more than 521
jihadists and 32 civilians over the last month.
(AFP, 10/23/14)(Reuters, 10/23/14)

2014 Oct 24, Turkey's president
said that Ankara would allow hundreds of Syrian rebels to travel to
the embattled border town of Kobani in order to help Kurdish
fighters there fend off an Islamic State onslaught. During a state
visit in Estonia, Erdogan said the Western-backed Free Syrian Army
would send 1,300 fighters to the Syrian town. A spokesman for the
Western-backed Syrian opposition in exile, Kenan Mohammed, said
there were no plans to send fighters to Kobani.
(AP, 10/24/14)

2014 Oct 25, Syrian rebels
fought fierce clashes with loyalist troops as they tried to secure
their supply line to second city Aleppo against advances by the
army. US warplanes over the last 24 hours destroyed an Islamic State
artillery piece near Kobani.
(AFP, 10/25/14)(Reuters, 10/25/14)

2014 Oct 26, In Syria Kurdish
forces in Kobane thwarted a new attempt by fighters from the Islamic
State group to cut off the border with Turkey before Iraqi Kurdish
reinforcements can deploy. The jihadists have lost 481 dead, while
313 Kurds have been killed fighting to defend the area. Civilians
accounted for 21 of the dead.
(AFP, 10/26/14)
2014 Oct 26, In Syria 16
members of the same family were among 24 people killed in overnight
government air strikes on the town of Talbisseh. Air strikes on the
Waer district on the outskirts of Homs killed 7 people. 12 civilians
from the same family were killed in government barrel bomb strikes
on the rebel town of Busra al-Sham in southern Daraa province. Rebel
fire on a school in Aleppo killed a child and a man.
(AFP, 10/26/14)

2014 Oct 27, In Syria members
of the al-Qaida-linked Nusra Front and other rebel factions launched
simultaneous attacks on army checkpoints and the governor's office
in the northwest, triggering hours-long clashes that left 19 troops
and rebels dead.
(AP, 10/27/14)

2014 Oct 28, Iraqi peshmerga
fighters left Iraq for the besieged Syrian town of Kobani to help
fellow Kurds in their battle against Islamic State militants. US
forces staged four air strikes on Islamic State militants in Syria
and allies joined in nine strikes on the group in Iraq.
(Reuters, 10/28/14)

2014 Oct 29, Iraqi peshmerga
fighters arrived in southeastern Turkey en route for the Syrian town
of Kobani to try to help fellow Kurds break an Islamic State siege.
The US military conducted 14 air strikes over the last 2 days
against the IS in Syria and Iraq. Eight of the strikes were near
Kobani.
(Reuters, 10/29/14)

2014 Oct 30, A first group of
Iraqi Kurdish peshmerga fighters entered the besieged Syrian town of
Kobani to help push back Islamic State militants who have defied US
air strikes. The Free Syrian Army (FSA) said it already has 400
fighters in Kobane and more are on the way.
(Reuters, 10/30/14)(AFP, 10/30/14)

2014 Oct 31, In Syria US-led
air strikes hit Islamic State positions around the border town of
Kobani in an apparent bid to pave the way for heavily-armed Kurdish
peshmerga forces to enter from neighboring Turkey.
(Reuters, 10/31/14)

2014 Oct, Kenji Goto, a veteran
Japanese war correspondent was captured by the militants late this
month when he went to Syria seeking the release of Haruna Yukawa.
Yukawa was seized by militants in August after going to Syria to
launch a security company.
(Reuters, 2/1/15)
2014 Oct, Syrian rebels
released footage of the involvement of Russian intelligence officers
at a Syrian military listening post on the Golan Heights.
(Econ., 4/18/15, p.41)

2014 Nov 1, In Syria Islamist
militants affiliated to al Qaeda seized the last remaining
stronghold of Western-backed rebels in the northwest province of
Idlib after days of fighting.
(Reuters, 11/1/14)
2014 Nov 1, Some 150 Iraqi
Kurdish forces arrived in the Syrian town of Kobani with heavy
weapons to help Syrian Kurds fend off attempts by Islamic State
insurgents to seize the town. Around 200 fighters from the Free
Syrian Army (FSA) have also arrived in Kobani to help defend the
town. The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said at
least 100 Islamic State fighters were killed in the past three days.
(Reuters, 11/1/14)

2014 Nov 2, The Syrian
Observatory for Human Rights said nearly 2,000 people have died in
Syrian prisons of torture, starvation and lack of medical treatment
so far this year. Al-Qaeda affiliate Al-Nusra Front seized a town
and several villages in Idlib province overnight.
(AFP, 11/2/14)
2014 Nov 2, In Syria US
military forces staged seven air strikes on Islamic State targets
over the last 24 hours and were joined by allies in two more attacks
in Iraq.
(Reuters, 11/2/14)

2014 Nov 3, The Syrian
Observatory for Human Rights said 8 men were beheaded last week and
their bodies hung on makeshift crucifixes in Albu Kamal, Deir Ezzor
province. IS jihadists also decapitated another 3 men, again hanging
their corpses from crosses in the city of Deir Ezzor.
(AFP, 11/3/14)
2014 Nov 3, The militant
Islamic State group released 93 Syrian Kurds it captured in February
as they made their way from northern Syria to neighboring Iraq. A
day later Human Rights Watch said Islamic State militants had forced
children as young as 14 to watch videos of beheadings and beat them
with cables during six months of captivity.
(Reuters, 11/4/14)
2014 Nov 3, The United States
targeted Islamic State militants with five air strikes in Syria and
nine in Iraq over the last 24 hours.
(Reuters, 11/3/14)

2014 Nov 5, In Syria mortar
rounds slammed into a school in a rebel-held suburb east of
Damascus, killing at least 13 children. In Kurdish-dominated north
and northeastern regions, Kurdish forces distributed leaflets to
residents, ordering them to report for compulsory military service.
(AP, 11/5/14)
2014 Nov 5, The Islamic State
said has shut all schools in areas it controls in eastern Syria
pending a religious revision of the curriculum.
(Reuters, 11/7/14)

2014 Nov 6, In northwest Syria
a US-led coalition, set up to fight Islamic State, bombed the al
Qaeda-linked Nusra Front and the Ahrar al-Sham radical faction. One
strike on a base near the northern city of Aleppo killed at least
six Nusra fighters. Residents of Harem said at least 4 children were
killed and dozens injured in an attack they believed was launched by
the coalition. Fighting in a majority Druze region near Lebanon
killed 31 combatants loyal to Syria's President Bashar al-Assad and
14 rebels, including Al-Qaeda militants.
(Reuters, 11/6/14)(AFP, 11/7/14)(AFP, 11/8/14)

2014 Nov 7, In Syria al-Qaida
fighters of the Nusra Front seized three villages: Safuhan, Fatira
and Hazari, in northwestern Idlib province, and were pushing to take
others.
(AP, 11/7/14)

2014 Nov 8, In Syria Islamic
State shelling killed 2 civilians and wounded four others, including
a child, at a camp for people forced by violence from Kobane to the
west of the town. US-led air strikes overnight hit jihadist
positions in the north and east, including an oil field. 2 people
were killed.
(AFP, 11/8/14)

2014 Nov 9, In Syria 5 nuclear
scientists were killed in a machine gun ambush outside Damascus. One
of the men was an Iranian nuclear technician. Syrian rebels working
for Israel were blamed.
(SFC, 11/11/14, p.A4)
2014 Nov 9, In Syria at least
21 people were killed and around 100 wounded overnight when regime
army planes bombed al-Bab, a town controlled by Islamic State
militants northeast of Aleppo.
(Reuters, 11/9/14)
2014 Nov 9, Monitors said that
that officials in a predominantly Kurdish province of northeastern
Syria have issued a women's rights decree, in an apparent rebuke to
the hardline views of Islamic State insurgents who have advanced in
the region.
(Reuters, 11/9/14)

2014 Nov 10, Syrian President
Bashar al-Assad said he was ready to study a UN plan to "freeze"
fighting in the northern city of Aleppo. National Reconciliation
Minister Ali Haidar said Syria has freed around 11,000 detainees
since President Bashar al-Assad declared a general amnesty in June.
The British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights disputed the
government's figures, saying the number of people released was
closer to 7,000 people.
(AFP, 11/10/14)(AFP, 11/11/14)
2014 Nov 10, US Central Command
said it launched 23 air strikes in Syria over the weekend including
13 aimed near the key border town of Kobani and 10 hit near Dayr Az
Zawr. Another 18 air strikes were launched against the Islamic State
in Iraq.
(Reuters, 11/10/14)

2014 Nov 11, Syrian Kurds
backed by fighters from northern Iraq gained ground towards breaking
the siege of the Syrian border town of Kobani but are drawing heavy
fire from Islamic State insurgents and have yet to win back control.
(Reuters, 11/11/14)

2014 Nov 13, In Syria a US
strike targeted the Khorasan group near the town of Harem, Idlib
province. The US says the group is a special cell within al-Qaida's
Syrian branch — known as the Nusra Front.
(AP, 11/14/14)
2014 Nov 13, A website
affiliated with the Islamic State group said IS leader Abu Bakr
al-Baghdadi has ordered the terror organization to start minting
gold, silver and copper coins for its own currency, the Islamic
dinar.
(AP, 11/14/14)

2014 Nov 14, In Syria armed
clashes erupted in Douma after hungry residents stormed food
warehouses belonging to an Islamist rebel group. Residents said the
Army of Islam only distributes food and medical supplies to its
fighters.
(AFP, 11/15/14)
2014 Nov 14, UN investigators
said Islamic State commanders are liable for war crimes on a
"massive scale" in northeast Syria where they spread terror by
beheading, stoning and shooting civilians and captured fighters.
(Reuters, 11/14/14)

2014 Nov 15, Turkish media
reported that Turkey and the United States have agreed a plan under
which some 2,000 fighters from the moderate Syrian opposition would
be trained on Turkish soil.
(AFP, 11/15/14)

2014 Nov 16, In Syria the
US-led coalition against the Islamic State jihadist group carried
out a series of air strikes overnight on Kobane. The Syrian
Observatory for Human Rights said that the toll since fighting began
had risen to 1,153, including 27 civilians, 398 Kurdish YPG
fighters, 16 non-Kurdish rebels backing the YPG and 712 Islamic
State fighters.
(AFP, 11/16/14)
2014 Nov 16, An Islamic State
group video released today purported to show extremists beheading a
dozen Syrian soldiers. It ended with a militant claiming to have
killed US aid worker Peter Kassig (26). Kassig had formed the aid
organization Special Emergency Response and Assistance, or SERA, in
Turkey to aid Syrian refugees. He delivered food and medical
supplies and provided trauma care to wounded Syrian civilians before
being captured in eastern Syria last year.
(AP, 11/16/14)

2014 Nov 17, US Central Command
said US military forces conducted 11 air strikes against Islamic
militants in Syria and 20 in Iraq since Nov 14.
(Reuters, 11/17/14)

2014 Nov 18, A Syrian military
airstrike killed at least 13 people, including children, and wounded
another 20 in the northern province of Aleppo after striking a
neighborhood with crude bombs. Kurds captured six IS-controlled
buildings in Kobani and confiscated a large amount of weapons and
ammunition.
(AP, 11/18/14)(AP, 11/19/14)

2014 Nov 22, US Vice President
Joe Biden announced nearly $135 million in humanitarian aid to help
feed civilians affected by Syria's war.
(AP, 11/22/14)

2014 Nov 23, In northern Syria
members of al Qaeda wing Nusra Front and other Sunni Islamist
battalions seized an area south of a Shi'ite Muslim village after
deadly clashes with pro-government fighters. The clashes killed at
least 8 of the fighters advancing on al-Zahra and a number of
fighters from the pro-government National Defense Force.
(Reuters, 11/23/14)

2014 Nov 25, Syrian warplanes
conducted a series of airstrikes on the northeastern city of Raqqa,
killing at least 95 people. Some of the airstrikes hit a popular
market near a museum and an industrial neighborhood, causing many
civilian casualties.
(AP, 11/25/14)(AP, 11/26/14)

2014 Nov 26, Syrian government
forces killed at least 30 rebels in an ambush in the suburbs of
Damascus where troops and allied gunmen have been on the offensive
for weeks.
(AP, 11/27/14)
2014 Nov 26, US Central Command
said the US led 17 air strikes on Islamic State targets in Iraq and
Syria since Nov 24 as part of Operation Inherent Resolve.
(Reuters, 11/26/14)
2014 Nov 26, It was reported
that Qatar is covertly training moderate Syrian rebels with US help
to fight both President Bashar al-Assad and Islamic State and that
the program has been running for nearly a year.
(Reuters, 11/26/14)

2014 Nov 27, Syrian government
warplanes kept up air raids on the northern city of Raqqa, the de
facto capital of the Islamic State group, killing at least 7 people.
(AP, 11/27/14)

2014 Nov 28, In Iraq bombings
and a shooting killed 9 people around the capital, Baghdad. US
Central Command said the US military and its allies have hit Islamic
State forces with 15 air strikes in Iraq and Syria during a
three-day period.
(AP, 11/28/14)(Reuters, 11/27/14)

2014 Nov 29, The Islamic State
group launched an attack on the Syrian border town of Kobani. The
latest fighting killed at least 8 Kurdish fighters and 17 jihadis.
The US-led coalition launched an airstrike morning on the eastern
side of the town. Turkey denied that IS fighters had used its
territory for the raid.
(AP, 11/29/14)

2014 Nov 30, Syrian government
aircraft targeted the southern town of Jasim, Daraa province, with a
series of airstrikes, killing at least a dozen people including
women and children. US-led coalition warplanes carried out as many
as 30 airstrikes overnight against Islamic State militants in and
around Raqqa, the group's de facto northeastern capital.
(AP, 11/30/14)

2014 Dec 1, The UN World Food
Program suspended a food voucher program serving more than 1.7
million Syrian refugees, citing a funding crisis after many donors
failed to meet their commitments.
(AP, 12/1/14)

2014 Dec 2, Lebanese security
officials said that Lebanon’s army detained Saja al-Dulaimi, an
alleged wife and daughter of Islamic State leader Abu Bakr
al-Baghdadi, as they crossed from Syria nine days ago. They said
authorities have also detained the wife of Anas Shirkas, senior
Nusra Front leader from Syria. On Dec 3 a statement by Iraq's
Interior Ministry spokesman Saad Maan said Saja al-Dulaimi is not a
wife of Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi and that she is the sister of a terror
suspect being held in Iraq.
(Reuters, 12/2/14)(AP, 12/3/14)

2014 Dec 3, Human Rights Watch
urged Turkey to remove from its border with Syria landmines which
have killed 3 people and wounded nine among more than 2,000 Syrian
refugees camped in a minefield.
(Reuters, 12/3/14)

2014 Dec 4, In Syria at least
19 government soldiers and militiamen were reported killed after
Islamic State launched an overnight attack on one of the
government's last remaining strongholds in Deir al-Zor province. 7
IS fighters were reported killed.
(AP, 12/4/14)
2014 Dec 4, Kurdish sources
said a second group of 150 Iraqi Kurdish peshmerga forces has
entered the Syrian border town of Kobani from Turkey to replace a
first group helping Kurdish forces fight off a siege by Islamic
State militants.
(Reuters, 12/4/14)

2014 Dec 5, In Syria clashes
continued for a 2nd day as IS militants pushed to capture the Syrian
air base at Deor el-Zour. 30 government troops and 27 jihadists were
said to have died so far.
(SFC, 12/6/14, p.A3)

2014 Dec 6, Rebels in southern
Syria signed an agreement toward unity that may attract more support
from their Western and Arab backers, forging a joint defense pact to
help shield them from government forces and Islamic State. It
followed an agreement among the southern groups on a transition plan
for Syria.
(Reuters, 12/11/14)

2014 Dec 7, Israeli warplanes
struck near Damascus' international airport, as well as outside a
town close to the Lebanese border.
(AP, 12/8/14)

2014 Dec 8, In northern Syria
the militant Islamic State group beheaded a man in Solouk, Raqqa
province, after accusing him of blasphemy. 3 journalists from the
opposition television channel Orient News were killed in the
southwest when a missile hit their vehicle in Deraa province.
(AP, 12/9/14)(Reuters, 12/10/14)

2014 Dec 9, The UN World Food
Program said it has reinstated a food aid program to help feed over
1.7 million Syrian refugees following a significan cash infusion.
(SFC, 12/10/14, p.A3)

2014 Dec 10, US military
officials said the United States and partner nations have launched
20 airstrikes against Islamic State militants in recent days with
seven strikes in Syria and led 13 strikes in Iraq.
(Reuters, 12/10/14)

2014 Dec 12, In Syria the
Islamic State group's police force beheaded four men in the central
province of Homs for blasphemy.
(AP, 12/13/14)
2014 Dec 12, Syrian rebels
using improvised mortar bombs made of cooking gas canisters killed
311 civilians between July and December this year according to The
Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.
(Reuters, 12/12/14)
2014 Dec 12, EU governments
agreed to ban the export of jet fuel to Syria from Dec 14, saying it
was being used by the Syrian air force for indiscriminate attacks
against civilians.
(Reuters, 12/12/14)
2014 Dec 12, The US and its
allies carried out 7 airstrikes on Islamic State targets in Syria
and 20 in Iraq in the past three days.
(Reuters, 12/12/14)

2014 Dec 13, Hazem Sherif, a
Syrian from war-torn Aleppo, was declared the winner of this year's
"Arab Idol" singing contest at the grand finale of the grueling
four-month television competition in Beirut.
(AFP, 12/14/14)

2014 Dec 14, In northwestern
Syria rebels and al-Qaida militants took over at least three
government checkpoints around a pair of military bases. At least 15
pro-government troops and 8 opposition fighters were killed in the
clashes. Government forces killed at least 21 rebels in the Handarat
area.
(AP, 12/14/14)

2014 Dec 15, In Syria the
al-Qaeda-linked Nusra Front dealt a major blow to the government by
seizing Hamidiyeh and Wadi al-Deif, two key army bases, giving them
control over most of Idlib province. Around 100 government soldiers
and 80 Islamist fighters were killed during the two-day battle.
Around 120 soldiers were captured in the assault.
(AFP, 12/15/14)(Reuters, 12/16/14)

2014 Dec 16, Syria's state news
agency SANA said that the army had killed more than 60 "terrorists"
from the Islamic State militant group in the province of Deir
al-Zor.
(Reuters, 12/16/14)

2014 Dec 17, The UN Security
Council renewed for 12 months its authorization for humanitarian
access without Syrian government consent into rebel-held areas of
Syria at four border crossings from Turkey, Iraq and Jordan.
(Reuters, 12/17/14)

2014 Dec 19, The US-led
coalition conducted 11 air strikes against Islamic State militants
in Iraq and 4 in Syria.
(Reuters, 12/19/14)

2014 Dec 20, In Syria an
activist opposed to both the Islamic State and the regime of
President Bashar al-Assad said he had "verified 100 executions" of
foreign IS fighters trying to leave Raqqa, the jihadist group's de
facto capital. Kurdish fighters advanced in the contested northern
town of Kobani after heavy clashes with the Islamic State group.
(AFP, 12/20/14)(AP, 12/20/14)

2014 Dec 21, A Syrian military
source announced that an Israeli unmanned Skylark-1 model drone has
been shot down in Quneitra province, close to the village of Hader"
near the Golan Heights.
(AFP, 12/22/14)
2014 Dec 21, US-led forces
attacked Islamic State targets with 13 air strikes in Iraq and three
in Syria, using fighter, bomber and other aircraft.
(Reuters, 12/21/14)

2014 Dec 22, The World Health
Organization said the Syrian government has approved the delivery of
medicine and surgical supplies to three areas of the country aid
workers were previously unable to reach regularly, including
opposition-held Aleppo.
(Reuters, 12/22/14)

2014 Dec 23, The Syrian
Observatory for Human Rights reported the deaths of 29 civilians in
regime air raids across Syria. It also said US-led air strikes in
Syria have killed more than 1,000 jihadists in the past three
months, nearly all of them from the Islamic State group.
(AFP, 12/23/14)
2014 Dec 23, The UN said nearly
300 sites of incalculable value for Syria and human history have
been destroyed, damaged or looted in almost four years of war.
(AFP, 12/23/14)

2014 Dec 24, In nofthern Syria
the Islamic State group captured a Jordanian pilot after his
warplane from the US-led coalition was reportedly shot down while on
a mission against the jihadists.
(AP, 12/24/14)
2014 Dec 24, The US-led
campaign against Islamic State in Syria and Iraq included 10 air
strikes in Syria and seven in Iraq.
(Reuters, 12/24/14)

2014 Dec 25, It was reported
that rebel groups fighting in Syria's northern Aleppo province have
agreed to form an alliance called the Shamiyya Front. Government
airstrikes on al-Bab and neighboring Qabasin killed at least 53
people, including 7 children in the northern province of Aleppo. At
least 44 members of the Islamic State group were killed in clashes
with Kurdish forces. 30 were killed Qassiab, Hasakeh province, and
14 in Kobane. 3 Kurdish fighters were also killed in the clashes.
(Reuters, 12/25/14)(AFP, 12/25/14)(AP, 12/26/14)

2014 Dec 26, The US-led
coalition pounded the Islamic State jihadist group with 31 air
strikes, including 16 in Syria with 13 in the flashpoint Syrian town
of Kobane and 15 in Iraq.
(AFP, 12/26/14)
2014 Dec 26, Syrian forces
killed Mohammed al-Ghazzawi, a former Sidney resident and the latest
Australian jihadist to be killed fighting for the Islamic State.
(SSFC, 1/3/15, p.A4)

2014 Dec 28, US-led forces
conducted eight air strikes against Islamic State militants in Syria
and five strikes on IS targets in Iraq.
(Reuters, 12/28/14)

2014 Dec 29, The US-led
coalition launched 18 air strikes against Islamic State, including
12 in Syria and six in Iraq.
(Reuters, 12/29/14)

2014 Dec 30, The United States
and its allies conducted 15 air strikes against Islamic State
militants in Syria and Iraq, hitting several units of fighters and
buildings.
(Reuters, 12/30/14)

2014 Dec 31, Some 970 mostly
Syrian migrants arrived in Italy on the Blue Sky M cargo ship after
apparently being abandoned by its crew in the Adriatic Sea.
(Reuters, 12/31/14)
2014 Dec 31, Kurdish forces
were reported to have regained control of around 70 percent of the
Syrian town of Kobani after pushing back Islamic State fighters that
have spent months besieging it.
(Reuters, 12/31/14)
2014 Dec 31, Kurdish Iraqi
forces launched a large-scale offensive to push Islamic State group
extremists from an area outside the militant-held northern city of
Mosul. The United States and its allies staged 29 air strikes on
Islamic State targets in Syria and Iraq.
(Reuters, 1/1/15)(AP, 12/31/14)

2014 Dec, The United Arab
Emirates dropped out of the group of countries conducting airstrikes
against IS targets in Syria.
(AP, 2/4/15)

2014 Syria ranked 159 out of
175 countries for corruption, according to Transparency
International, with graft endemic at all levels.
(AFP, 8/27/15)

2015 Jan 2, in northeastern
Syria US-led coalition warplanes carried out at least 13 airstrikes
overnight in and around Raqqa, the Islamic State group's de facto
capital. At least 19 people were killed overnight by Syrian rebel
fire on government-controlled parts of the northern city of Aleppo.
(AP, 1/2/15)(AFP, 1/2/15)
2015 Jan 2, In Turkey the main
Western-backed Syrian opposition group opened a three-day meeting to
discuss a range of issues, including a Russian initiative to hold
peace talks in Moscow to broker a resolution to Syria's civil war.
(AP, 1/2/15)

2015 Jan 4, In Syria Islamist
fighters seized a suburb east of Damascus after driving out a
smaller rival insurgent group in deadly clashes.
(Reuters, 1/4/15)
2015 Jan 4, Syria's
western-backed opposition group elected Khalid Khoja as its new
leader during a three-day meeting in Istanbul of the National
Coalition. Khalid Khoja announced the next day that his group is not
yet willing to go to peace talks in Moscow.
(AP, 1/5/15)

2015 Jan 5, Lebanon began
imposing unprecedented restrictions on the entry of Syrians, as it
struggled to cope with well over a million refugees feeling the
civil war next door.
(AP, 1/5/15)
2015 Jan 5, The US-led
coalition launched 20 more air strikes against Islamic State in
Syria and Iraq over the last 24 hours, targeting fighters for the
militant group and hitting its crude oil operations.
(Reuters, 1/5/15)

2015 Jan 6, Syrian Observatory
for Human Rights said a top figure in Islamic State's self-declared
police force, which has carried out beheadings, was himself found
decapitated in eastern Syria.
(Reuters, 1/6/15)
2015 Jan 6, The UN Children's
Fund (UNICEF) said an estimated 670,000 children in Syria are being
deprived of education after Islamic State forces ordered schools
closed while the curriculum is made to conform with religious rules.
(Reuters, 1/6/15)
2015 Jan 6, The US-led
coalition conducted 10 air strikes against Islamic State in Syria,
mostly targeting the contested city of Kobani, and two strikes in
Iraq over the last 24 hours.
(Reuters, 1/6/15)

2015 Jan 8, In southern Syria
al-Qaida Nusra Front militants blew up the 13th century tomb of a
revered Islamic scholar.
(Reuters, 1/8/15)
2015 Jan 8, Canada announced
that it would welcome 10,000 Syrians over three years and 3,000 more
Iraqis fleeing war and Islamic State militants.
(SSFC, 1/11/15, p.A4)

2015 Jan 11, The US military
said American-led forces launched 19 air strikes against Islamic
State militants in Syria and Iraq over the last 24 hours.
(Reuters, 1/11/15)

2015 Jan 12, Hacker group
CyberCaliphate took over the Twitter and YouTube accounts of US
Central Command. The Pentagon called it an annoying prank that did
not breach military networks.
(AP, 1/13/15)(SFC, 1/13/15, p.A6)

2015 Jan 13, The Islamic State
jihadist group released a video purporting to show a young boy
executing two men accused of working for Russian intelligence
services in Syria.
(AFP, 1/13/15)

2015 Jan 14, The Syrian
Observatory for Human Rights said that in total 14 people had been
executed for alleged adultery or homosexuality in the war-torn
country since July, half of them women. A new video showed fighters
from Al-Nusra Front, Al-Qaeda's Syrian affiliate, tying up a woman
and shooting her in a square for alleged adultery.
(AFP, 1/14/15)
2015 Jan 14, In Turkey, a child
(12) was allegedly shot and killed by security forces in the old
southeastern Kurdish settlement of Cizre.
(Econ, 2/14/15, p.46)

2015 Jan 15, Syrian rebels and
government forces began observing a 10-day truce in the last
rebel-held area of the central city of Homs, marking another setback
for opposition fighters.
(AP, 1/15/15)

2015 Jan 16, The Syrian
Observatory for Human Rights said the Islamic State has beheaded or
shot 17 men in Syria in the past two days as it faces increasing
attacks from unidentified gunmen in areas it controls.
(Reuters, 1/16/15)
2015 Jan 16, A senior Russian
diplomat said far more than 800 Russians are fighting alongside the
Islamic State group. Those who have joined the group include people
from Chechnya and some other regions in the volatile North Caucasus.
(AP, 1/16/15)

2015 Jan 17, The Syrian
Observatory for Human Rights said clashes broke out in the
northeastern city of Hassakeh after members of a Kurdish militia
detained 10 Syrian soldiers and pro-government gunmen after they
deployed in areas controlled by the Kurds.
(AP, 1/17/15)
2015 Jan 17, At least 35 Syrian
soldiers were killed when an army cargo plane crashed in bad night
weather in the northwest of the country. Al-Nusra Front claimed on
Twitter that it had shot down the aircraft.
(AFP, 1/18/15)
2015 Jan 17, Morocco said it
has dismantled an Islamist militant cell sending fighters to Syria
and Iraq to join Islamic State and mount attacks on returning home.
A security source said the government thinks nearly 2,000 Moroccans
have fought in Syria's civil war and in Iraq with Islamic State.
(Reuters, 1/17/15)
2015 Jan 17, A Turkish
intelligence report said around 3,000 people in Turkey are believed
to be linked to the Islamic State (IS) jihadist group.
(AFP, 1/17/15)
2015 Jan 17, The United States
and its allies conducted 29 airstrikes on Islamic State targets in
Syria and Iraq over the last 24-hours.
(Reuters, 1/17/15)

2015 Jan 18, In Syria at least
18 people were killed in unprecedented fighting between Kurdish
forces and Syrian government troops in the northeastern city of
Hasakeh over the last 24 hours.
(AFP, 1/18/15)
2015 Jan 18, An Israel air
strike on the Syrian side of the Golan Heights killed Hezbollah
military commander Mohammed Issa, responsible for Hezbollah's
operations in Syria and Iraq, and Jihad Mughniyeh, the son of an
assassinated commander from the group. General Mohammad Ali
Allahdadi was among 6 Iranians killed in the attack.
(AFP, 1/18/15)(AP, 1/19/15)

2015 Jan 19, In Syria Kurdish
fighters captured a strategic hill overlooking the town of Kobani
after intense clashes with the Islamic State group.
(AP, 1/19/15)

2015 Jan 20, Syrian government
air strikes killed at least 12 civilians in two towns in Idlib
province. An airstrike in the village of Khansaa, in far eastern
Syria near the Iraq border reportedly killed dozens.
(AFP, 1/20/15)(AP, 1/20/15)
2015 Jan 20, The US-led
coalition conducted nearly 20 more air strikes against Islamic State
militants in Syria and Iraq over the last 24 hours.
(Reuters, 1/20/15)

2015 Jan 21, In Syria a car
bomb on a shopping street in the government-controlled third city of
Homs killed 7 people and wounded 30.
(AFP, 1/21/15)
2015 Jan 21, Kurdish security
forces launched an offensive on the Islamic State (IS) group in
northern Iraq and retook villages the jihadists used to launch
attacks. The US and its partners launched 23 air strikes in Syria
and Iraq against Islamic State in the last 24 hours.
(AFP, 1/21/15)

2015 Jan 22, Kurdish officials
claimed they had cut a key road linking the IS stronghold of Mosul
with Tal Afar to the west as US and coalition bombers, fighter jets
and drones carried out a total of 31 air raids over the last 24
hours, including ten in Syria and 21 in Iraq.
(AFP, 1/22/15)

2015 Jan 23, The Syrian
Observatory for Human Rights said a government air strike killed at
least 32 people including 6 children in a rebel-held area near
Damascus.
(Reuters, 1/23/15)(AP, 1/23/15)
2015 Jan 23, The United States
and its coalition partners launched another round of air strikes
against Islamic State, conducting 25 strikes in Iraq and Syria in
the last 24 hours.
(Reuters, 1/23/15)

2015 Jan 24, In Syria a rebel
mortar attack on Damascus killed at least 3 people and wounded 11.
(AP, 1/24/15)
2015 Jan 24, The United States
and its coalition partners launched another round of air strikes
against Islamic State militants in Iraq and Syria, conducting 26
strikes in the last 24 hours.
(Reuters, 1/24/15)

2015 Jan 25, In Syria Islamist
fighters struck Damascus with at least 38 rockets, killing 7 people.
The Saudi-backed Islam Army, based in the eastern Ghouta region near
Damascus, had warned earlier that it would hit back against an air
strike last week in Ghouta in which more than 40 people were killed.
(Reuters, 1/25/15)

2015 Jan 26, In Syria Kurdish
forces took full control of Kobani, driving out remaining Islamic
State fighters to end a four-month battle. Half the city was
completely destroyed and much of the rest had suffered damage.
Turkish locals said 17 fighters had been killed in fighting
jihadists in Kobane.
(Reuters, 1/26/15)(Econ, 2/14/15, p.46)
2015 Jan 26, US and partner
nations launched 21 air strikes in Syria and 13 in Iraq over the
last 24-hours.
(Reuters, 1/26/15)

2015 Jan 27, At least two
rockets from Syria hit the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights and Israel
returned fire.
(Reuters, 1/27/15)

2015 Jan 28, In Israel missiles
fired by the Lebanese Hezbollah group struck an Israeli military
convoy, killing two soldiers in an apparent retaliation for a deadly
airstrike attributed to Israel that killed six Hezbollah fighters in
Syria earlier this month. Israeli warplanes struck Syrian army
targets on the Golan Heights hours after rockets hit the
Israeli-held sector.
(AP, 1/28/15)(AFP, 1/28/15)
2015 Jan 28, A new study said
an estimated 550 women who have traveled to Iraq and Syria are
expected to marry, keep house and bear children.
(AFP, 1/28/15)

2015 Jan 29, The Syrian arm of
al Qaeda attacked a Western-backed rebel group near Aleppo. The
Nusra Front seized positions from the Hazzm movement west of Aleppo.
Government airstrikes killed at least 8 people in the northern town
of al-Bab held by the Islamic State.
(Reuters, 1/29/15)(AP, 1/29/15)
2015 Jan 29, Representatives of
the Syrian government and the opposition wrapped up four days of
consultations in Russia with a general statement avoiding any sharp
issues.
(AP, 1/29/15)

2015 Jan 30, Syria's Al-Qaeda
affiliate Al-Nusra Front fought Western-backed rebels as the
jihadists pressed to take control of a northern area. Syrian
opposition fighters detonated a cache of explosives in a tunnel
under an army post in the northwestern province of Idlib, inflicting
heavy casualties among government troops. The government denied the
casualties and said the targeted post was empty.
(AFP, 1/30/15)(AP, 1/30/15)
2015 Jan 30, The US-led
coalition said it launched six air strikes against Islamic State in
Iraq and Syria over the last 24 hours.
(Reuters, 1/30/15)

2015 Jan 31, Islamic State
militants said they had beheaded a second Japanese hostage,
journalist Kenji Goto, prompting PM Shinzo Abe to vow to step up
humanitarian aid to the group's opponents in the Middle East and
help bring his killers to justice.
(Reuters, 2/1/15)
2015 Jan 31, In Syria a
pro-government faction known as the National Resistance Movement
shot dead an army defector in Daraa province after accusing him of
spying for Israel.
(AP, 2/2/15)

2015 Feb 1, In Syria a bomb
tore apart a bus thought to be carrying Lebanese Shi'ite Muslim
pilgrims in Damascus, killing at least 7 people and wounding 19. A
Nusra Front Twitter feed said one of the group's members blew
himself up inside a bus at the market.
(Reuters, 2/1/15)(AFP, 2/1/15)
2015 Feb 1, The United States
and its allies have carried out 26 air strikes in Iraq and eight in
Syria over the last 24 hours in continued attacks on Islamic State
targets.
(Reuters, 2/1/15)

2015 Feb 2, Syrian government
warplanes carried out several air raids on a rebel-held village in
the country's south, killing at least 15 people and wounding dozens
in Daraa province.
(AP, 2/2/15)(AFP, 2/2/15)

2015 Feb 3, Supporters of the
Islamic State insurgent group circulated photos on social media
purporting to show captive Jordanian pilot Muath al-Kasaesbeh being
burnt alive.
(Reuters, 2/3/15)
2015 Feb 3, US and allied
forces staged airstrikes on 14 Islamic State targets in Iraq and
Syria in the last 24-hour period.
(Reuters, 2/3/15)
2015 Feb 3, The United Nations
World Food Program (WFP) declared itself "extremely concerned" by
photographs showing its food parcels being handed out in Syria with
Islamic State logos on them.
(Reuters, 2/3/15)

2015 Feb 4, The United States
and its allies staged 11 airstrikes near the Syrian city of Kobani,
and also targeted the insurgent group with six strikes in Iraq over
the last 24 hours.
(Reuters, 2/4/15)

2015 Feb 5, Syrian government
forces and rebel forces traded salvos of rockets and mortar shells
around Damascus, killing at least 21 people. Syrian army helicopters
dropped two barrel bombs on a crowded square in a rebel-held
neighborhood in the northern city of Aleppo.
(AP, 2/5/15)(AP, 2/6/15)
2015 Feb 5, Jordanian fighter
jets pounded Islamic State hideouts in Syria and then roared over
the hometown of a pilot killed by the militants while King Abdullah
consoled the victim's family below.
(Reuters, 2/5/15)

2015 Feb 6, The Syrian
Observatory for Human Rights said the government air force conducted
60 strikes on the Eastern Ghouta district outside Damascus leaving
82 dead over the last 24 hours.
(Reuters, 2/6/15)
2015 Feb 6, The American
military said US-led forces have launched 10 air strikes in Syria
and eight in Iraq against Islamic State militants over the last 24
hrs. A purported statement by the Islamic State group claimed
that an American female hostage was killed in a Jordanian airstrike
on the outskirts of Raqqa, the militant group's main stronghold.
Kayla Jean Mueller (26), an aid worker, was captured in 2013. On May
14 it was reported that Mueller had been raped repeatedly by Abu
Bakr al-Baghdadi, the self-proclaimed caliph of the IS.
(Reuters, 2/6/15)(AP, 2/6/15)(AP, 8/15/15)

2015 Feb 7, Jordan carried out
a third straight day of air strikes on Islamic State targets.
(Reuters, 2/7/15)
2015 Feb 7, The United Arab
Emirates said it has ordered a squadron of F-16 fighters to Jordan,
which would participate in airstrikes on the Islamic State group
after the UAE earlier suspended its involvement.
(AP, 2/7/15)
2015 Feb 7, US-led forces
launched 15 air strikes against Islamic State in Iraq and 11 in
Syria over the last 24 hours. Nine targets in Syria centered around
the border city of Kobani.
(Reuters, 2/7/15)

2015 Feb 8, Jordan said it has
launched 56 airstrikes against Islamic State group weapons depots,
training centers and military barracks since militants released a
video on Feb 3 of them burning a Jordanian pilot to death.
(AP, 2/8/15)

2015 Feb 9, In Syria at least
15 people were reported killed and dozens wounded on in government
air strikes on an area outside Damascus. Barrel bombs over the next
48 hours left at least 18 people dead in Douma, a rebel-held area of
Damascus.
(AFP, 2/9/15)(Econ., 2/21/15, p.45)

2015 Feb 10, Syria's army
gained ground from rebels in the south in what a monitoring group
described as a large-scale offensive in the region backed by
Lebanese Hezbollah fighters against insurgents including al Qaeda's
Syrian wing. The operation began two days earlier.
(Reuters, 2/10/15)
2015 Feb 10, The United Arab
Emirates launched airstrikes against the Islamic State group from an
air base in Jordan.
(AP, 2/10/15)

2015 Feb 11, The Syrian
Observatory for Human Rights said government air force raids have
killed at least 183 people in insurgent strongholds east of the
capital in the past 10 days.
(Reuters, 2/11/15)
2015 Feb 11, US President
Barack Obama sent Congress his text for an authorization to use
military force in the campaign against Islamic State, limiting
operations against the militants to three years and barring use of
US troops in "enduring offensive ground combat."
(Reuters, 2/11/15)

2015 Feb 12, US-led forces hit
Islamic State targets in Iraq with 12 air strikes and three air
strikes in Syria over the last 24 hours.
(Reuters, 2/12/15)
2015 Feb 12, The UN Security
Council unanimously adopted Resolution 2199 aimed at choking off
earnings from oil smuggling, antiquities trafficking and ransom
payments to the Islamic State group.
(AFP, 2/12/15)(Econ, 6/13/15, p.46)

2015 Feb 15, In Iraq and Syria
the United States and its coalition partners conducted 11 air
strikes against Islamic State militants, three in Syria and eight in
Iraq over the last 24 hours.
(AP, 2/15/15)

2015 Feb 16, Syrian state news
said 9 people, including three children, were killed today in rebel
fire on a government-held neighborhood in the northern city of
Aleppo.
(AFP, 2/16/15)
2015 Feb 16, In Iraq and Syria
the United States and its coalition partners launched air strikes
against Islamic State targets; two in Syria and 13 in Iraq over the
last 24 hours.
(Reuters, 2/16/15)

2015 Feb 17, Syrian government
forces backed by Lebanese militant Hezbollah fighters captured
several villages near the northern city of Aleppo in lightning
advances. Regime forces executed six families of rebel fighters. Ten
children, 5 women and 13 rebels from the six families were among at
least 48 people killed in the village of Rityan.
(AP, 2/17/15)(AFP, 2/21/15)
2015 Feb 17, In Iraq and Syria
the United States and its allies staged six airstrikes around the
Syrian town of Kobani and eight strikes on Islamic State in Iraq
over the last 24 hours.
(Reuters, 2/17/15)
2015 Feb 17, Three British
girls (Kadiza Sultana (16) and 15-year-olds Shamima Begum and Amira
Abase) flew from London to Turkey in a suspected bid to join the
Islamic State group. On March 12 Turkey announced the arrest of an
agent who helped the girls cross into Syria. The agent also worked
as a courier to transfer money to jihadists.
(SSFC, 2/22/15, p.A5)(AP, 3/15/15)(AFP, 3/15/15)

2015 Feb 18, Syrian rebels
regained much of the territory north of the city of Aleppo lost to
government troops in fierce fighting the previous day in clashes
that left more than 100 dead on both sides. UN envoy Staffan de
Mistura said he received a government commitment to suspend
airstrikes on the city of Aleppo for six weeks. Rebels captured 32
soldiers and pro-government gunmen near Aleppo, where fighting raged
as the two sides tried to grab new territory ahead of a possible
truce.
(AP, 2/18/15)(AP, 2/19/15)

2015 Feb 19, In Syria rebels
recaptured the village of Hardatnein, two days after it was taken by
government forces. The Observatory said 90 troops and pro-government
gunmen, in addition to 81 rebels, have been killed since the
fighting began near Aleppo on Feb 17.
(AP, 2/19/15)
2015 Feb 19, In Iraq and Syria
the US-led coalition staged 15 air strikes on Islamic State forces
over the last 24 hours.
(Reuters, 2/19/15)

2015 Feb 20, UN war crimes
investigators announced a radical change of strategy, saying they
would publish names of suspects involved in Syria's four-year war
and push for new routes towards international justice.
(Reuters, 2/20/15)

2015 Feb 21, In Syria 8 people,
including 2 women and 2 children, were killed when a barrel bomb hit
a building in an opposition-held area of Aleppo. 5 more people were
reported killed in rebel shelling of regime-held areas of the city.
Syria’s air force also killed at least 7 people in rebel areas east
of Damascus. A car bomb attack in the parking of Qardaha hospital
killed four citizens and wounded several others.
(AFP, 2/21/15)
2015 Feb 21, In Iraq and Syria
the US-led coalition said it has staged six air strikes against
Islamic State targets over the past 24 hours.
(Reuters, 2/21/15)

2015 Feb 22, Almost 600 Turkish
troops pushed deep into Syria evacuating Turkish soldiers guarding a
historic tomb who had been stranded in territory controlled by
Islamic State jihadists. They brought back the tomb containing the
remains of Suleyman Shah, grandfather of the Ottoman empire's
founder, Osman I.
(AFP, 2/22/15)
2015 Feb 22, A Syrian man was
shown beheaded in a video posted to Facebook. Malaysian authorities
later Mohd Faris Anuar (20) and Muhamad Wanndy Muhammad Jedi (25) of
Malaysia as the men involved in the beheading by the Islamic State.
(Reuters, 3/4/15)

2015 Feb 23, In Syria a rocket
struck a prison in a suburb of Damascus, killing at least 4 people.
(AP, 2/23/15)
2015 Feb 23, In northeast Syria
jihadists from the Islamic State group kidnapped at least 90
Assyrian Christians, after overrunning two villages in Hassakeh
province. The abducted number rose to 220 over the next few days as
militants rounded up more hostages from a chain of villages along
the strategic Khabur River. In 2016 the int’l. Assyrian Christian
community raised millions in ransom and freed 226 kidnapped members.
(AFP, 2/24/15)(Reuters, 2/25/15)(AP,
2/26/15)(SFC, 12/7/16, p.A2)
2015 Feb 23, In Iraq and Syria
the United States and its allies staged 25 air strikes on Islamic
State fighters over the last 24 hours. About 800 Iraqi forces backed
by US warplanes waged a battle to retake the western town of
Al-Baghdadi from Islamic State jihadists.
(Reuters, 2/23/15)(AFP, 2/23/15)

2015 Feb 25, In Iraq and Syria
the US and its partner nations launched 15 air strikes against the
Islamic State with six in Iraq and nine in Syria over the last 24
hours.
(Reuters, 2/25/15)

2015 Feb 26, In northeastern
Syria the US-led coalition carried out air strikes against the
Islamic State group, where the jihadists have launched a new
offensive and kidnapped 220 Assyrian Christians.
(AFP, 2/26/15)
2015 Feb 26, “Jihadi John," a
member of the Islamic State and the beheader of at least 5 Western
hostages, was identified as a British Islamist named Mohammed
Emwazi. He first appeared in a video last August, when he apparently
killed the US journalist James Foley.
(www.bbc.com/news/uk-31637090)(Econ., 3/7/15,
p.59)

2015 Feb 27, In northeast Syria
Kurdish forces dealt a blow to Islamic State by capturing Tel Hamis
in the latest stage of a powerful offensive. Kurdish forces killed
at least 175 members and commanders of the ultra-hardline Islamist
militants in an offensive which began last weekend. Nusra Front
commander Samir Hijazi was among three fellow leaders killed in an
apparent airstrike.
(Reuters, 2/27/15)(SFC, 3/7/15, p.A2)
2015 Feb 27, Britain and France
dismissed any suggestion of restoring relations with Syrian
President Bashar al-Assad, saying this would likely end all hope of
a political transition and push moderates into the arms of radical
Islamist groups.
(Reuters, 2/27/15)

2015 Feb 28, In Syria
Al-Qaeda's affiliate drove US-backed rebels out of Base 46, a
northern military base west of Aleppo. At least 29 fighters from the
Western-armed Hazm movement were killed along with 6 Al-Nusra Front
jihadists.
(AFP, 2/28/15)

2015 Mar 1, The Islamic State
released at least 19 Christians, whoi were among over 220 people
taken captive last week in northeastern Syria.
(SFC, 3/2/15, p.A2)
2015 Mar 1, In Iraq and Syria a
US-led coalition launched 9 air strikes including seven in Iraq and
two in Syria against Islamic State militants over the last 24 hours.
(Reuters, 3/1/15)

2015 Mar 2, Syrian regime
forces and Kurdish militia fought separate battles with the Islamic
State group in a strategic area near the Iraqi and Turkish borders.
(AFP, 3/2/15)
2015 Mar 2, Konstandinos Erik
Scurfield (25), a former Royal Marine, died in a battle with IS
militants, becoming the first Briton to be killed while fighting
with Kurdish forces battling Islamic State jihadists in Syria.
(AFP, 3/4/15)

2015 Mar 4, In Iraq and Syria
the US and its allies staged 12 air strikes on Islamic State targets
over the last 24-hours.
(Reuters, 3/4/15)

2015 Mar 5, Syrian government
helicopter gunships bombed the northern city of Aleppo, killing at
least 18 people and wounding dozens.
(AP, 3/5/15)
2015 Mar 5, In Syria Abu Hammam
al-Shami, the military chief of the Al-Qaeda-affiliated Al-Nusra,
reportedly died of injuries believed to have suffered from an air
strike on Feb 27.
(AFP, 3/6/15)

2015 Mar 6, In Iraq and Syria
coalition forces led by the US military targeted Islamic State
militants with 16 air strikes over the last 24 hours.
(Reuters, 3/6/15)

2015 Mar 7, In northeastern
Syria Islamic State militants attacked a string of predominantly
Christian villages. At least 8 militants were killed in the fighting
and an unknown number of Kurds. At least 9 members of Islamic State
were killed during infighting near the town of al-Bab after some of
them tried to flee over the Turkish border.
(AP, 3/7/15)(Reuters, 3/9/15)
2015 Mar 7, The Syrian
Observatory for Human Rights said the Syrian army has killed Deeb
Hedijan al-Otaibi, an Islamic State commander, in an air strike. 26
Islamic State militants were reported killed in the air strike near
the town of Hamadi Omar.
(Reuters, 3/7/15)
2015 Mar 7, In Iraq and Syria
US and coalition forces conducted 17 air strikes against Islamic
State fighters over the past 24 hours with 6 in Syria and 11 in
Iraq.
(Reuters, 3/7/15)

2015 Mar 8, In northern Syria
at least 40 Kurdish fighters and Islamic State group jihadists were
killed in clashes over the last 24 hours for control of Tal Tamr in
Hasakeh province. 11 civilians were killed in a government air raid
on the rebel-held town of Irbin northeast of Damascus. Clashes
continued around the Aleppo province villages of Handarat and
Bashkoy between regime forces and fighters from the Al-Qaeda
affiliate, Al-Nusra Front. Unidentified gunmen attacked Islamic
State militants in the eastern town of al-Mayadin overnight, killing
more than 12.
(AFP, 3/8/15)(Reuters, 3/8/15)
2015 Mar 8, In Iraq and Syria
US and coalition forces conducted 12 air strikes against Islamic
State fighters over the past 24 hours. Coalition warplanes bombed a
refinery near the Syrian town of Tel Abyad on the Turkish border
late today. The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights
said the strikes killed some 30 people.
(Reuters, 3/8/15)(AP, 3/9/15)
2015 Mar 8, The European Union
said it has imposed sanctions on Syrian businessman George Haswani,
who it says bought oil for the Syrian government from Islamic State
militants who have seized wide areas of the country including its
oil-producing regions.
(Reuters, 3/8/15)

2015 Mar 9, About 95 captives,
including Kurdish fighters, escaped from an Islamic State-run prison
in northern Syria but most were recaptured.
(Reuters, 3/10/15)

2015 Mar 10, In Iraq and Syria
US and coalition forces conducted 12 air strikes against Islamic
State fighters over the last 24 hours including eight in Iraq and
four in Syria.
(Reuters, 3/10/15)
2015 Mar 10, An Islamic State
propaganda video showed the killing of East Jerusalem Palestinian
Mohammad Musallam (19). A man introduces a child shown shooting the
captive in the head. The man in the video speaks with a southern
French accent and looks like the step-brother of Mohammed Merah, who
killed 7 people in attacks on a Jewish school and paratroopers in
the south of France beginning on March 11, 2012.
(AP, 3/11/15)(SSFC, 3/15/15, p.A6)

2015 Mar 11, In Syria the
Islamic State jihadist group launched a major offensive to try to
capture the strategic town of Ras al-Ain on the Syrian-Turkish
border, leaving dozens dead in clashes. At least 12 fighters from
the Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG), which control Ras
al-Ain and the surrounding villages, were killed in the IS
onslaught.
(AFP, 3/11/15)
2015 Mar 11, In Iraq and Syria
US and coalition forces conducted 13 air strikes against Islamic
State militants over the last 24 hours.
(Reuters, 3/11/15)

2015 Mar 12, Islamic State
spokesman Abu Mohammed al-Adnani said that a pledge by Nigeria-based
Boko Haram has been accepted and that now “no one can stand in its
path." The agreement mirrors the steps taken by other Sunni jihadist
groups in Libya and Egypt.
(AP, 3/13/15)
2015 Mar 12, The Turkish
coastguard opened fire to stop a cargo vessel carrying 337 mainly
Syrian migrants heading towards European Union waters and arrested
the suspected traffickers.
(AFP, 3/13/15)

2015 Mar 14, In northeast Syria
US-led coalition jets struck Islamic State positions for the second
day in a row, in an area where the militants are battling Kurdish
forces. The US and its coalition partners staged 10 air strikes on
Islamic State militants in Iraq and Syria over the last 24 hours.
(AP, 3/14/15)(Reuters, 3/14/15)

2015 Mar 17, A Syrian army
statement said dozens of militants were killed in other areas of
Idlib province overnight in clashes and attacks. A monitoring group
said government forces carried out a poison gas attack that killed
six people in the northwest. Medics posted videos of children
suffering what they said was suffocation.
(Reuters, 3/17/15)
2015 Mar 17, The Syrian army
shot down a US drone over Latakia province, part of the western
region where Damascus has been consolidating state control.
(Reuters, 3/18/15)

2015 Mar 20, In Syria a twin
bombing targeting Kurds celebrating their new year in the
northeastern city of Hassakeh killed 49 people and wounded 177
others.
(AP, 3/21/15)
2015 Mar 20, Islamic State
published a video purporting to show the beheading of three Kurdish
peshmerga fighters in northern Iraq by militants who threatened to
kill "dozens" more of those being held captive. The population under
Islamic State control was about eight million people.
(Reuters, 3/20/15)(Econ., 3/21/15, p.17)

2015 Mar 22, In Syria Islamist
rebels captured four crew members when a regime helicopter crashed
in the northwest province of Idlib. Another airman survived the
crash, but was reported killed by his captors.
(AFP, 3/22/15)(SFC, 3/23/15, p.A2)
2015 Mar 22, A Turkish
opposition lawmaker said he is helping the families of nine British
medical students and doctors of Sudanese origin believed to have
crossed into Syria from Turkey.
(AP, 3/22/15)(AFP, 3/22/15)

2015 Mar 24, Syrian rebels
launched an offensive against a major government-held city in
northwestern Syria, shelling the outskirts and warning residents to
remain indoors in the coming days.
(AP, 3/24/15)

2015 Mar 25, Syrian rebels
seized an ancient town near the Jordan border that is a key
government stronghold, ousting Syrian soldiers and allied militiamen
from the region after four days of intense battles. 11 soldiers and
allied militia as well as 17 insurgents were killed as an alliance
of Islamist rebels including al Qaeda's Nusra Front overran 17
defense posts around Idlib in an offensive to take the city from the
army and allied militia.
(AP, 3/25/15) (Reuters,
3/26/15)
2015 Mar 25, The United States
and its allies staged 19 air strikes on Islamic State targets in
Syria and Iraq over the last 24 hours.
(Reuters, 3/25/15)

2015 Mar 27, In Syria Islamist
rebels made fresh advances on the edges of Idlib city, after fierce
clashes that have left dozens of dead.
(AFP, 3/27/15)

2015 Mar 28, In Syria Islamist
groups including al Qaeda's Nusra Front seized the city of Idlib for
the first time since the conflict in the country began. The bodies
of least 15 detainees were found, apparently executed by government
forces, after Idlib was taken.
(Reuters, 3/28/15)(AP, 3/29/15)(AFP, 3/29/15)

2015 Mar 29, A video posted by
the Islamic State group showed its fighters beheading 8 men, said to
be Shiite Muslims, in Syria’s Hama province.
(SFC, 3/30/15, p.A4)
2015 Mar 29, Saudi Arabia
accused Russian President Vladimir Putin of hypocrisy, telling an
Arab summit that he should not express support for the Middle East
while fuelling instability by supporting Syrian leader Bashar
al-Assad.
(Reuters, 3/29/15)
2015 Mar 31, In central Syria
the Islamic State jihadist group killed at least 46 civilians,
including two children, in a raid on a regime-held village in Hama
province. Jihadist fighters from the IS group took hostage at least
50 civilians, almost half of them women, seized in a raid on Mabujeh
village, Hama province.
(AFP, 3/31/15)(AP, 4/10/15)(Econ., 4/11/15, p.43)
2015 Mar 31, The US Treasury
Dept. imposed new sanctions on Syria's government aimed at blunting
its weapons programs and pushing it into negotiations with rebels.
The action targeted Batoul Rida, a Syrian central bank official, and
three "front companies" that help fund Syria's development of
ballistic missiles and nonconventional weapons.
(AP, 3/31/15)
2015 Mar 31, UN Secretary
General Ban Ki-moon said donors meeting in Kuwait have pledged $3.8
billion in humanitarian aid for the people of war-wracked Syria.
(AFP, 3/31/15)

2015 Apr 1, In Syria Islamic
State militants infiltrated the Yarmouk Palestinian refugee camp in
Damascus, marking the deepest foray yet by the extremist group into
the capital.
(AP, 4/1/15)
2015 Apr 1, Jordan closed its
main border crossing with Syria amid fierce clashes between rebels
and pro-regime forces for control of the Jaber post.
(AFP, 4/1/15)

2015 Apr 2, Syrian rebels and
fighters from the al-Qaida-affiliated Nusra Front captured the Nasib
crossing, the only functioning border crossing with Jordan, as well
as three nearby military posts. Palestinian fighters and Syrian
rebels retook control of large parts of a refugee camp in Damascus
that had been seized by IS jihadists.
(AP, 4/2/15)(AFP, 4/2/15)
2015 Apr 2, Tunisia's foreign
minister said that diplomatic relations with Syria will be restored
at a consular level, following a long hiatus that began during the
Arab Spring.
(AP, 4/2/15)

2015 Apr 3, In Syria Islamic
State militants battled against armed groups inside the Yarmouk
refugee camp in Damascus, and have made new advances inside the
camp.
(AP, 4/3/15)

2015 Apr 4, In Syria civilians
trapped in the Yarmouk Palestinian refugee camp in Damascus fled to
safer areas amid intense shelling and clashes between Palestinian
armed factions and Islamic militants who took over most of the camp.
(AP, 4/4/15)

2015 Apr 5, A Palestinian
official said around 2,000 people have been evacuated from the
Yarmouk refugee camp in Damascus after the Islamic State group
seized large parts of it.
(AFP, 4/5/15)

2015 Apr 6, In Syria
Palestinian fighters clashed with Islamic State militants in the
heavily contested Yarmouk refugee camp in Damascus as a UN official
described the situation in the embattled camp as "beyond inhumane"
for some 18,000 residents.
(AP, 4/6/15)
2015 Apr 6, In northwestern
Syria Islamist fighters kidnapped some 300 Kurdish civilians at a
checkpoint in Dana, Idlib province.
(AFP, 4/6/15)
2015 Apr 6, In Iraq US-led
forces targeted Islamic State militants with eight air strikes and
conducted five air strikes in Syria over the last 24 hours.
(Reuters, 4/6/15)
2015 Apr 6, In Russia talks
began in Moscow on ending the war in Syria, but the absence of key
opposition groups meant there was little hope of progress in
resolving the conflict.
(AFP, 4/6/15)

2015 Apr 7, The Islamic State
group launched English-language radio news bulletins on its al-Bayan
radio network. The first bulletin provided an overview of their
activities in Iraq, Syria and Libya. An IS group online propaganda
video showed the beheading of four men for armed robbery and murder
in the northern Iraqi province of Nineveh.
(AP, 4/7/15)(AFP, 4/7/15)
2015 Apr 7, In northern Syria
two car bombs set off by Islamic State insurgents killed at least 32
people in Marea, including a senior rival fighter from al Qaeda's
Nusra Front.
(Reuters, 4/8/15)(AFP, 4/8/15)

2015 Apr 8, In Syria the toll
from two alleged Islamic State group car bombings overnight of
rebels in Aleppo province rose to at least 32.
(AFP, 4/8/15)
2015 Apr 8, In Iraq and Syria
US-led forces targeted Islamic State militants with four air strikes
in Iraq and two in Syria over the last 24 hours.
(Reuters, 4/8/15)

2015 Apr 9, A group of 14
Palestinian factions said they backed a joint military operation
with the Syrian government to expel Islamic State group jihadists
from the Yarmouk camp in southern Damascus.
(AFP, 4/9/15)

2015 Apr 10, In Syria
pro-government forces repelled an attack on the Khalkhalah military
airport in Sweida province by Islamic State group affiliated
militants, losing 20 fighters. At least 15 IS jihadists were killed.
The Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG) "retook at least four
checkpoints and a number of neighborhoods" around the town of Tal
Tamr. 10 members of the Kurdish YPG militia were killed in the
fighting. The US-led coalition fighting conducted air strikes
on IS positions around Tal Tamr.
(AFP, 4/11/15)(Reuters, 4/11/15)
2015 Apr 10, Talks in Moscow
between the Syrian government and members of the domestic opposition
tolerated by President Bashar al-Assad broke up with no progress
made towards ending the war.
(AFP, 4/10/15)

2015 Apr 11, In Syria at least
35 people were killed on both sides of the divided city of Aleppo as
government forces and rebel fighters exchanged fire. The dead
included 18 civilians -- two of them children -- killed in regime
air strikes on the Al-Maadi and Sheikh al-Lutfi neighborhoods.
(AFP, 4/11/15)(AP, 4/12/15)

2015 Apr 12, A Syrian
government air raid struck near a school in an opposition-held
neighborhood in Aleppo, killing at least 9 people, including 5
children.
(AP, 4/12/15)

2015 Apr 14, Syrian militants,
including members of al-Qaida's local branch, attacked a government
Air Force intelligence center in Aleppo overnight, damaging much of
the building by blowing up a tunnel under it. The fighting
reportedly killed 13 militants and killed and wounded more than 20
troops and pro-government gunmen.
(AP, 4/14/15)
2015 Apr 14, The US Central
Command said the international coalition carried out 18 airstrikes
on militants in Iraq and Syria in the past two days. Of those, 15
were in Iraq, including three near Ramadi.
(AP, 4/15/15)

2015 Apr 15, In Syria local
fighters in a Palestinian refugee camp in Damascus advanced in
clashes with Islamic State militants two weeks after the extremist
group stormed the area in its deepest foray into the capital.
(AP, 4/15/15)

2015 Apr 18, In Iraq and Syria
the US and its allies reported the launch of 20 air strikes
targeting Islamic State militants over the last 24 hours.
(Reuters, 4/18/15)

2015 Apr 19, Syrian government
airstrikes on three opposition-held towns near the Jordanian border
reportedly killed at least 16 people, including five children.
(AP, 4/19/15)
2015 Apr 19, In Iraq and Syria
the US and its coalition partners targeted Islamic State militants
with 13 air strikes over the last 24 hours with 12 of the strikes in
Iraq.
(Reuters, 4/19/15)

2015 Apr 20, In Syria fighting
began in the southern province of Daraa with at least 27 people
killed. By the next day 37 rebels as well as 22 government troops
were reported killed as opposition fighters clawed back most of the
territory lost the previous day.
(AP, 4/21/15)
2015 Apr 20, In Iraq and Syria
the United States and its allies launched 36 air strikes targeting
Islamic State militants over the last 24 hours with 10 in Syria and
26 in Iraq.
(Reuters, 4/20/15)

2015 Apr 22, In Syria
airstrikes in Harasta and Douma, suburbs of Damascus, killed at
least 11 people, including two women, and wounded others.
(AP, 4/22/15)
2015 Apr 22, In Iraq and Syria
US-led forces targeted Islamic State militants with 18 air strikes
over the last 24 hours including 7 in Syria and 11 in Iraq.
(Reuters, 4/22/15)
2015 Apr 22, Russia said it is
arming Iraq and Syria to help them fight Islamic State, calling the
radical militant group the main threat to his own country's
security.
(Reuters, 4/22/15)

2015 Apr 24, In southern Syria
the Islamic State shot down a regime aircraft east of the Khalkhalah
military airport in Sweida province. Pro-IS Twitter accounts said
the group had captured the pilot.
(AFP, 4/24/15)
2015 Apr 24, In Iraq and Syria
the US and its allies conducted 15 air strikes over the last 24
hours including eleven in Iraq and four in Syria.
(AP, 4/24/15)
2015 Apr 24, Rostom Ghazali, a
powerful Syrian general, was reported to have died in a hospital in
the capital Damascus. He had been clinically dead for weeks after
being beaten by the bodyguards of another Syrian general. Ghazali
was once considered the most powerful man in Lebanon and was
suspected of involvement in the 2005 assassination of a former
Lebanese PM Rafik Harriri.
(AP, 4/24/15)
2015 Apr 24, An Israeli air
striked hit a Syrian army missile base in the Qalamoun
mouintains near the Lebanese border.
(Econ., 5/2/15, p.40)

2015 Apr 25, In Syria Islamist
insurgents including al-Qaeda's wing, Nusra Front, captured the
northwestern town of Jisr al-Shughour, for the first time in the
four-year-old conflict. At least 27 people, including at least 20
fighters, were killed in the strikes.
(Reuters, 4/25/15)(AP, 4/26/15)

2015 Apr 26, Syrian military
aircraft bombed the northwestern town of Jisr al-Shughour, a day
after insurgents seized control of it. Airstrikes on Darkoush
(Darkush), some 20 km north of Jisr al-Shughour, killed and wounded
at least 34 civilians.
(AP, 4/26/15)(AFP, 4/26/15)
2015 Apr 26, Israel’s military
said it launched an airstrike on its border with Syria after
spotting militants carrying a bomb in the Golan Heights. 4 men were
reported killed.
(SFC, 4/27/15, p.A4)(Econ., 5/2/15, p.40)

2015 Apr 27, In Syria Islamic
insurgents overran a military base at the former Qarmeed factory in
northwestern Idlib province, carting off tanks and other weapons in
the latest blow to President Bashar Assad's forces in the region.
(AP, 4/27/15)
2015 Apr 27, French
investigators provided details to AFP of their year-long probe into
the finances of Rifaat al-Assad, the younger brother of Syria’s late
dictator Hafez al-Assad. He was under investigation for amassing a
90-million-euro fortune, including a stud farm and luxury
apartments, despite being kicked out of Syria "with nothing" 30
years ago.
(AFP, 4/27/15)

2015 Apr 29, Syrian government
air raids in Aleppo and its suburbs killed 11 civilians, including
at least one child.
(AP, 4/30/15)

2015 Apr 30, Syrian government
forces carried out a series of overnight air raids and shelled
several areas in the country's northwest in an apparent attempt to
halt a rebel advance, killing at least 20 civilians. State media
said "terrorists" shelled a district in the government-controlled
part of Aleppo, killing at least seven civilians.
(AP, 4/30/15)
2015 Apr 30, Norway said it
would increase its financial aid to Syrian refugees to nearly 120
million euros ($134 million) and would send another vessel to help
patrol the Mediterranean.
(AFP, 4/30/15)

2015 May 1, In Syria Islamist
rebels and the government army fought fierce battles in Latakia
province overnight close to Pres. Bashar al-Assad's ancestral home.
At least 5 insurgents were killed and an unidentified number from
the pro-government side. Syrian television said army units targeted
"groups of terrorists" in the eastern and southern Idlib countryside
and "eliminated a great number of them and destroyed their weapons
and munitions."
(Reuters, 5/1/15)
2015 May 1, In Iraq and Syria
the US-led military coalition launched 18 air strikes against
Islamic State over the last 24 hours.
(Reuters, 5/1/15)
2015 May 1, In northern Syria
an air strike by US-led forces on Bir Mahli village, Aleppo
province, reportedly killed at least 64 civilians including 31
children.
(Reuters, 5/2/15)(SFC, 5/5/15, p.A2)

2015 May 3, Syria's army cut
the last main supply route for a rebel bastion east of Damascus. A
barrel bomb killed at least 7 civilians, including a teacher and 4
children, when it hit a school in the city of Aleppo.
(AFP, 5/3/15)
2015 May 3, In Iraq and Syria
the United States and its allies staged 17 strikes on Islamic State
targets over the last 24 hours.
(Reuters, 5/3/15)

2015 May 4, In Syria a small
group of insurgents, including a suicide bomber, carried out an
attack in Damascus targeting a Syrian military logistics and supply
facility.
(AP, 5/4/15)

2015 May 5, In eastern Lebanon
Hezbollah fighters and gunmen from al Qaeda's Syria wing Nusra Front
clashed near the border with Syria. Hezbollah fighters captured a
Syrian village near the border with Lebanon.
(Reuters, 5/5/15)(AP, 5/5/15)

2015 May 6, In Syria at least
16 members of the Syrian Kurdish security forces were killed in an
Islamic State group attack on a base in the northeastern province of
Hasakeh.
(AFP, 5/6/15)
2015 May 6, Lebanese Hezbollah
militants attacked a gathering of leaders of Syria's Nusra Front and
other insurgents in an area near Lebanon's eastern border with
Syria, killing 3 of them.
(Reuters, 5/6/15)

2015 May 7, The Syrian army and
Hezbollah fighters captured a mountainous area on Syria's border
with Lebanon and killed dozens of insurgents including from al
Qaeda's Nusra Front wing. 4 government soldiers were beheaded by IS
as the jihadists seized a key checkpoint in Deir Ezzor near its
military air base. At least six civilians were killed in attacks in
Aleppo city. In Aleppo province a fierce attack by IS on the
regime's Kweyris military airport left 7 pro-government forces dead.
An explosion in the Billi military airport killed 13 regime
soldiers, including the base's head.
(Reuters, 5/7/15)(Reuters, 5/8/15)

2015 May 8, In Syria fierce
battles between regime forces and the Islamic State jihadist group
continued in eastern Syria with 34 fighters dead in the last 24
hours.
(Reuters, 5/8/15)
2015 May 8, Syria's state news
agency quoted an archaeology official as saying that authorities
have confiscated and reclaimed 6,000 looted antiquities trafficked
by smugglers outside the country.
(AP, 5/8/15)

2015 May 9, In Iraq and Syria
the United States and its allies conducted 28 air strikes against
Islamic State with 15 in Syria and 13 in Iraq in the last 24 hours.
(Reuters, 5/9/15)

2015 May 10, In Syria rebels
including an Al-Qaeda affiliate stormed the hospital complex in Jisr
al-Shughur, Idlib province, where some 250 regime forces and
civilians have been trapped for two weeks. At least 40 rebels and 32
government troops were killed as the Syrian army battled to relieve
some 250 besieged regime loyalists under rebel assault.
(AFP, 5/10/15)(AFP, 5/11/15)
2015 May 10, The Lebanese
Shi'ite group Hezbollah said it had killed over 20 fighters from
Syria's al Qaeda wing and destroyed several hideouts and training
camps the fighters had set up to launch attacks in Lebanon across
the rugged border with Syria.
(Reuters, 5/10/15)

2015 May 12, Syrian government
helicopters dropped barrel bombs in a neighborhood in the northern
city of Aleppo, killing at least 15 people. The Aleppo Media Center,
based in the city, said at least 35 people were killed. At least 4
people were killed and 17 wounded in a double bomb blast in the
central city of Homs.
(AP, 5/12/15)(AFP, 5/12/15)

2015 May 13, In Syria at least
28 regime forces and 20 IS fighters were reported killed in
overnight battles in Homs province as IS militants captured areas of
Al-Sukhnah town and its surroundings.
(AFP, 5/13/15)
2015 May 13, The London
Guardian reported that a three-year operation to smuggle official
documents out of Syria has produced enough evidence to prosecute
pres. Bashar Asad and 24 senior members of his government on war
crimes.
(SSFC, 5/17/15, p.A4)

2015 May 14, In Syria jihadists
from the Islamic State group executed 26 civilians after overrunning
their villages near the ancient city of Palmyra.
(AFP, 5/14/15)

2015 May 15, Syria's army
dispatched reinforcements to Palmyra in a bid to push back jihadists
who advanced to within touching distance of the ancient city.
(AFP, 5/15/15)
2015 May 15, US special forces
carried out a late night raid inside Syria at al-Omar. A man
identified as Abu Sayyaf, a senior Islamic State leader who helped
direct the group's oil, gas and financial operations, was among
those killed. The US operation killed 32 members of IS, among them
four officials.
(Reuters, 5/16/15)(AFP, 5/17/15)

2015 May 16, In Syria Islamic
State group said that its fighters have seized full control of Saker
Island in the Euphrates River north of Deir el-Zour, the
northeastern province divided between areas held by the group and
the government. The Islamic State group seized control of the
northern part of Syria's ancient desert city of Palmyra after fierce
clashes with government forces.
(AP, 5/16/15)(AFP, 5/16/15)
2015 May 16, Turkish military
jets shot down a Syrian aircraft after it violated Turkey's
airspace.
(Reuters, 5/16/15)

2015 May 17, Syrian troops
pushed Islamic State group jihadists back from Palmyra. The Syrian
Observatory for Human Rights said nearly 300 people have been killed
in several days of fighting since the Islamic State group launched
an attack against the ancient city of Palmyra. The dead included 123
soldiers and loyalist militiamen, 115 IS fighters and 57 civilians.
(AFP, 5/17/15)
2015 May 17, In Syria US and
coalition forces launched eight air strikes against Islamic State
targets over the last 24 hours, including near al Hasakah and
Kobani.
(Reuters, 5/17/15)

2015 May 19, In Syria rebels
including Al-Qaeda's local affiliate seized Al-Mastumah base, the
government’s largest remaining military base in northwestern Idlib
province. IS jihadists attacked a village in the Druze heartland of
southern Syria, killing 6 people before local pro-regime gunmen
expelled them. An air strike on a village in Deir Ezzor province
killed at least 8 civilians, including 3 children.
(AFP, 5/19/15)

2015 May 20, In central Syria
Islamic State militants seized parts of the ancient town of Palmyra
after fierce clashes with government troops. A mortar shelled
smashed into an elementary school in an upscale neighborhood of
Damascus, killing a female teacher and wounding 23 students.
(AP, 5/20/15)
2015 May 20, The US-led
coalition staged 25 air strikes against Islamic State in Iraq and
Syria over the last 24 hours.
(Reuters, 5/20/15)

2015 May 21, In Syria Islamic
State said in a statement it was in full charge of Palmyra,
including its military bases, marking the first time it had taken a
city directly from the Syrian military and allied forces. Clashes in
the Palmyra area over the last 24 hours reportedly killed at least
100 pro-government fighters.
(Reuters, 5/21/15)

2015 May 23, In Syria the
United States and its allies staged 5 air strikes on Islamic State
targets over the last 24 hours.
(Reuters, 5/23/15)

2015 May 24, Syrian state media
reported that Islamic State fighters have executed at least 400
people in Palmyra since capturing the ancient city four days ago.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said least 300 soldiers were
killed in the days of fighting before the city was captured. Syrian
state television said its air force had killed 300 insurgents in
strikes that broke the siege of the Jisr al-Shughour hospital in
Idlib province.
(Reuters, 5/24/15)
2015 May 24, A Syrian military
helicopter crashed at the northern air base of Kweiras, killing all
of its crew. An activist group said it was shot down by Islamic
State militants.
(AP, 5/24/15)

2015 May 25, The Syrian air
force leveled Islamic State "hideouts" and killed a large number of
its members around Palmyra's military air base. The British-based
Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the Islamic State has
killed at least 217 people execution-style, including children,
since it moved into the Palmyra area 10 days ago. The United States
and its allies carried out 10 air strikes against Islamic State
militants in Syria in the last 24 hours.
(Reuters, 5/25/15)

2015 May 26, Syrian government
aircraft carried out strikes against the IS group in and around
Palmyra after its fall to the jihadists. The Syrian Observatory for
Human Rights said at least 4 civilians had been killed in the raids.
State media said the air force hit an IS-controlled air base in
Raqqa province, killing more than 140 militants.
(AFP, 5/26/15)(Reuters, 5/26/15)
2015 May 26, In Syria Hezbollah
field commander, Ghassan Faqih, was killed along with several other
fighters in clashes in the Qalamoun region.
(AP, 5/27/15)

2015 May 27, In Syria Islamic
State militants shot dead around 20 men inside an ancient
amphitheater in Palmyra. A monitor said Kurdish forces have driven
the IS group from more than a dozen Assyrian Christian villages that
the jihadists had captured in the northeast.
(Reuters, 5/27/15)(AFP, 5/27/15)
2015 May 27, Lebanon's
Hezbollah said it has struck a group of al-Qaida-linked Nusra Front
militants near the border with Syria with the help of a drone for
the first time.
(AP, 5/27/15)

2015 May 28, The EU added a
high-ranking Syrian military official to its sanctions list as it
extended measures against supporters of Pres. Bashar al-Assad for
another year.
(Reuters, 5/28/15)
2015 May 28, A US official said
the US military has started training Syrian opposition fighters in
Turkey to combat Islamic State, an expected expansion of a program
that first launched in Jordan weeks ago.
(Reuters, 5/28/15)

2015 May 29, In Syria Kurdish
militia executed at least 20 civilians, including two children,
after accusing them of being IS supporters in a northern provincial
town.
(AFP, 5/31/15)
2015 May 29, The US-led
coalition conducted 20 air strikes in Iraq and four in Syria
targeting Islamic State militants over the last 24 hours.
(Reuters, 5/29/15)

2015 May 30, In Syria barrel
bombs dropped from regime helicopters killed at least 71 civilians
in Aleppo province, after forces loyal to President Bashar al-Assad
retreated from the neighboring northwestern region of Idlib. Islamic
State group jihadists demolished a notorious government prison in
Palmyra. At least 10 pro-government forces and 10 jihadists were
killed as the IS launched an assault on Hasakeh city, which has a
large Kurdish population.
(AFP, 5/30/15)(AFP, 5/31/15)

2015 May 31, In Syria a fuel
tank exploded inside a clinic in the predominantly Kurdish
northeastern town of Qamishli, killing at least 27 people, mostly
children.
(AFP, 5/31/15)
2015 May 31, In Syria Islamic
State fighters pushed back rival insurgents north of Aleppo near the
Turkish border, threatening their supply route to the city. On June
1 The United States accused the Syrian military of carrying out air
strikes to help Islamic State fighters advance around Aleppo.
(Reuters, 6/2/15)

2015 May, In Syria leading
Algerian jihadist Said Arif (49) was killed by a US drone. Arif was
a deserter from the Algerian army who first joined Al-Qaeda camps in
Afghanistan in the 1990s.
(AFP, 9/17/15)

2015 Jun 2, Syrian militants
sent reinforcements to fight the Islamic State group in the northern
province of Aleppo, where rival factions battled near the Turkish
border.
(AP, 6/2/15)
2015 Jun 2, The United States
and its allies launched 10 air strikes against Islamic State targets
in Iraq and five in Syria over the last 24 hours.
(Reuters, 6/2/15)

2015 Jun 3, Syrian troops and
militia battled to repel an Islamic State attack on the city of
Hasaka in the northeast.
(Reuters, 6/3/15)
2015 Jun 3, A Syrian security
source said thousands of Iranian and Iraqi fighters have been
deployed in past weeks to bolster the defenses of Damascus and its
surroundings.
(AFP, 6/3/15)
2015 Jun 3, In Syria Keith
Broomfield (36), an American from Massachusetts, was killed while
fighting with Kurdish forces against the Islamic State near Kobani.
(SFC, 6/12/15, p.A2)(SFC, 6/15/15, p.A10)

2015 Jun 4, In Syria Islamic
State group jihadists, emboldened by a string of battlefield
victories, advanced to the gates of Hasakeh after intense fighting
with regime troops.
(AFP, 6/4/15)
2015 Jun 4, Turkish government
official said more than 3,300 Syrians have crossed into Turkey in
the past two days fleeing fighting between Islamic State militants
and Kurdish forces in northern Syria's Tel Abyad region.
(AP, 6/4/15)

2015 Jun 5, Syrian war planes
bombed Islamic State fighters trying to advance into the
northeastern city of Hasaka.
(Reuters, 6/5/15)

2015 Jun 7, The Syrian army
said it had repulsed a major offensive by Islamic State militants in
the northeastern city of Hasaka and driven out fighters who had
taken over key installations on the southern edge of the city.
US-led aircraft bombed Islamic State group fighters as they battled
rival Syrian rebels, including Al-Qaeda loyalists, for the first
time overnight.
(Reuters, 6/7/15)(AFP, 6/7/15)
2015 Jun 7, In Syria an
airstrike by the U.S.-led coalition in the northern province of
Aleppo killed 7 family members, including a couple and their five
children.
(AP, 6/8/15)

2015 Jun 8, In northwest Syria
at least 49 civilians, including six children, were killed in
government air strikes on the town of Al-Janudiyah, Idlib province.
Syria's PM Wael al-Halaki said the government would give a monthly
bonus of 10,000 Syrian pounds ($37) to soldiers fighting on the
frontlines.
(AFP, 6/8/15)(AP, 6/8/15)

2015 Jun 9, In Syria rebel
fighters captured Liwa 52, a major Syrian army base in the south of
the country. Hezbollah fighters came under attack from Islamic State
militants for the first time in the Qalamoun campaign. 11 IS
fighters were reported killed.
(Reuters, 6/9/15)
2015 Jun 9, US and allied
forces reported 14 air strikes in Iraq and nine in Syria against
Islamic State militants over the last 24 hours.
(AP, 6/9/15)

2015 Jun 11, Syrian rebels of
the Southern Front seized most of Al-Thaala military airport in
regime-controlled Sweida province and shot down a warplane nearby.
Syrian Kurdish fighters advanced towards the Islamic State
group-held town of Tal Abyad on the Turkish border, backed by US-led
coalition strikes.
(AFP, 6/11/15)
2015 Jun 11, US and coalition
forces conducted 13 air strikes targeting Islamic State in Iraq, as
well as 10 strikes against the militant group in Syria.
(Reuters, 6/12/15)

2015 Jun 12, Syrian army troops
regained full control of an airbase in southern Sweida province, a
day after rebels overran large parts of it.
(AFP, 6/12/15)
2015 Jun 12, US and coalition
forces conducted 12 air strikes targeting Islamic State in Iraq and
three strikes against the militant group in Syria.
(Reuters, 6/13/15)

2015 Jun 13, The Syrian Kurdish
YPG militia said it began an advance towards an Islamic State-held
town at the Turkish border, thrusting deeper into the jihadists'
stronghold of Raqqa province in a campaign backed by US-led air
strikes.
(Reuters, 6/13/15)
2015 Jun 13, Turkish security
forces used water cannon and fired warning shots to push Syrians
away from the frontier as thousands massed at a border crossing to
escape escalating fighting.
(AFP, 6/13/15)
2015 Jun 13, US-led forces
conducted 12 air strikes against Islamic State targets in seven
Iraqi cities. One strike was conducted in Syria.
(Reuters, 6/14/15)

2015 Jun 14, Syrian state
television said dozens of civilians were wounded when two bombs
exploded in the central city of Homs. Kurdish forces advanced to the
gates of Tal Abyad and clashed with Islamic State jihadists. The
upsurge in violence saw Turkey open its border to fleeing civilians.
(Reuters, 6/14/15)(AFP, 6/14/15)

2015 Jun 16, In Syria Kurdish
militia, backed by Syrian rebel forces, seized full control of the
key border town of Tal Abyad from Islamic State group jihadists.
(AFP, 6/16/15)
2015 Jun 16, Syrian government
forces earlier fired Iranian-made "elephant" rockets on the
rebel-held suburb of Douma, killing 24 people, including 5 children
and 14 women. Two shells struck Arnous Park in Damascus late today,
killing 9 people and wounding 13.
(AP, 6/17/15)
2015 Jun 16, Turkey accused
Kurdish militia in northern Syria of persecuting civilians and said
it saw signs of "a kind of ethnic cleansing", drawing a parallel to
the actions of Islamic State militants and forces loyal to President
Bashar al-Assad.
(Reuters, 6/16/15)

2015 Jun 17, Rebels surrounded
a government-held Druze village on the Syrian side of the ceasefire
line on the Golan Heights after heavy fighting. The fighting killed
a soldier and one insurgent, after 6 rebels were killed the day
before.
(AFP, 6/17/15)(AP, 6/17/15)

2015 Jun 18, Syrian rebels
advanced into a second government-held neighborhood in the northern
city of Aleppo.
(AP, 6/18/15)
2015 Jun 18, In Iraq and Syria
the United States and coalition allies staged 22 air strikes on
Islamic State targets.
(Reuters, 6/18/15)

2015 Jun 19, Britain said it
will take in "several hundred more" vulnerable Syrian refugees,
after PM David Cameron said London was expanding a resettlement
program for the conflict-ravaged country.
(Reuters, 6/19/15)
2015 Jun 19, US and coalition
forces targeted the Islamic State with 16 air strikes in Iraq and
six in Syria.
(Reuters, 6/20/15)

2015 Jun 20, Islamic State
planted mines and bombs in the ancient part of the central Syrian
city of Palmyra, home to Roman-era ruins.
(Reuters, 6/21/15)
2015 Jun 20, In Syria three US
and coalition forces air strikes near Tal Abyad hit three Islamic
State tactical units.
(Reuters, 6/21/15)

2015 Jun 22, In Syria
Kurdish-led forces advanced deep into territory in Syria held by
Islamic State, showing new momentum after they unexpectedly swiftly
seized a border crossing from the jihadists last week.
(Reuters, 6/22/15)
2015 Jun 22, Dozens of Druze
residents of the annexed Golan Heights attacked a military ambulance
carrying two injured Syrians, beating one to death on suspicion that
they were Islamic militants. Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu pledged
the next day to track down the Druze rioters responsible for the
"lynching" of a wounded Syrian.
(AP, 6/23/15)(AFP, 6/23/15)

2015 Jun 23, Syrian Kurds and
allied rebels advanced against the Islamic State group. Anti-IS
forces took Ain Issa after capturing the nearby Brigade 93 base
overnight.
(AFP, 6/23/15)
2015 Jun 23, In Syria 2 suicide
attacks from the Islamic State group killed 10 government soldiers
in the northeastern city of Hasakeh. At least 13 civilians were
killed in a car bomb attack against a mosque in a village near the
capital Damascus. US-led forces carried out air strikes against IS
in Hasaka and near the town of Tel Abyad.
(AFP, 6/24/15)(Reuters, 6/25/15)
2015 Jun 23, Islamic State
militants said they have blown up two shrines they consider
sacrilegious in Palmyra, a 2,000-year-old UNESCO World Heritage
site. The extremists destroyed the grave of Mohammad Bin Ali, a
descendant of Imam Ali, cousin of Islam's Prophet Muhammad and a
deeply revered Shiite saint, and the final resting place of Sufi
scholar, Nizar Abu Bahaa Eddine, who lived in Palmyra some 500 years
ago.
(Reuters, 6/23/15)(AP, 6/24/15)

2015 Jun 25, In Syria Islamic
State fighters launched simultaneous attacks against the government
forces and Kurdish militia, moving back onto the offensive after
losing ground in recent days to Kurdish-led forces near Raqqa. At
least 15 Islamic State fighters were reported killed in Kobani. IS
militants mounted a bloody surprise attack on the Kurdish-held
border town of Kobane, killing at least 164. IS forces shot dead at
least 23 people in the Kurdish village of Barkh Butan.
(Reuters, 6/25/15)(AFP, 6/25/15)(AFP, 6/27/15)

2015 Jun 26, In Syria Some 40
people were reported killed in the fighting for Daraa.
(AFP, 6/26/15)(Reuters, 6/26/15)

2015 Jun 27, In Syria Kurdish
forces drove out Islamic State fighters who had infiltrated the
Syrian border town of Kobani, but clashes continued outside the
town. The number of civilians killed since bands of elite IS
fighters infiltrated the town early June 25 exceeded 200 and was
likely to rise as the search for bodies continues.
(AP, 6/27/15)
2015 Jun 27, In Iraq and Syria
the United States and its allies staged air strikes against Islamic
State positions with 10 strikes in Iraq and 17 in Syria.
(Reuters, 6/28/15)

2015 Jun 28, In Syria a mortar
bomb killed 3 people and wounded 12 more in a market place in
Saroujah district of northeast Damascus.
(AP, 6/28/15)

2015 Jun 29, Syrian regime
forces took back several parts of a neighborhood in the northeastern
city of Hasakeh from the Islamic State group, but heavy clashes
continued.
(AFP, 6/29/15)
2015 Jun 29, In Iraq and Syria
the United States and its allies staged 18 air strikes on Islamic
State targets.
(Reuters, 6/30/15)
2015 Jun 29, Russian President
Vladimir Putin met with Syria's foreign minister and pledged his
support for Syrian President Bashar Assad. Putin called on all
Middle East nations to join forces to fight Islamic State militants.
(AP, 6/29/15)

2015 Jun 30, A Syrian
government air raid killed at least 17 people and wounded many
others in the northwestern town of Ihsim, Idlib province.
(AP, 6/30/15)
2015 Jun 30, It was reported
that the Islamic State in Syria has beheaded one women this week
along with her husband in Deir al-Zor city. In al-Mayadeen city to
the south east, the group beheaded another woman and her husband.
All were accused of sorcery.
(Reuters, 6/30/15)

2015 Jul 1, Syrian Kurdish
forces regained full control of Tal Abyad, expelling Islamic State
group fighters who had seized a district of the strategic border
town.
(AFP, 7/1/15)
2015 Jul 1, In Syria at least
18 people were killed in government strikes across Daraa province.
The strikes included raids in and around the town of Saida that left
13 dead, and 5 killed in a barrel bomb attack in Tafas.
(AFP, 7/2/15)
2015 Jul 1, In Iraq and Syria
US-led coalition forces conducted against Islamic State with 18 in
Iraq and 10 in Syria.
(AP, 7/2/15)

2015 Jul 3, Syrian government
forces carried out heavy air strikes on rebel positions in and
around the northern city of Aleppo. Rebel forces seized some
buildings from government control on the northwestern city outskirts
of Jamiyat al-Zahra. At least 35 insurgents were killed in that
area, including a dozen Syrians and many others of central Asian
origin. A bomb exploded inside a mosque in an opposition-held suburb
of Damascus, killing a Sunni Muslim cleric.
(Reuters, 7/3/15)(AP, 7/3/15)

2015 Jul 5, In Iraq and Syria
US-led forces conducted air strikes against Islamic State forces
with 11 in Iraq and 8 in Syria over the last 24 hours.
(AP, 7/6/15)(SFC, 7/6/15, p.A2)

2015 Jul 6, In Syria a suicide
bomber from the Nusra Front blew himself up in a government army
outpost in a contested neighborhood in the divided city of Aleppo
and killed at least 25 soldiers and allied militia and injured
scores. Islamic State fighters stormed the town of Ain Issa held by
Kurdish-led forces near Raqqa city. In the northeast least 37
Islamic State fighters were reported killed and scores injured in
air strikes by the US-led coalition and in clashes with Kurdish YPG
militia.
(Reuters, 7/6/15)

2015 Jul 7, In Syria intense
clashes broke out in the northern city of Aleppo after militants
attacked a government-held neighborhood there, capturing several
buildings.
(AP, 7/7/15)
2015 Jul 7, In Iraq and Syria
the United States and its allies staged 25 air strikes on Islamic
State targets with 14 in Iraq and 11 in Syria.
(Reuters, 7/8/15)
2015 Jul 7, Turkey's army said
it had detained 768 people trying to cross illegally from Syria,
including three suspected Islamic State militants, after bolstering
security in border areas near where the radical Islamists hold
ground.
(Reuters, 7/7/15)

2015 Jul 8, The Syrian
Observatory for Human Rights said a drone strike as part of a US-led
campaign against Islamic State militants has killed a senior
IS-Uzbek figure in Raqqa. Muhsin Al-Fadhli, leader of the Khorasan
al-Qaeda cell, was killed while traveling in a vehicle near Sarmada.
Hackers claiming to be affiliated with the Islamic State group took
down the website of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitor
and threatened its director. At least 19 civilians, including 5
children, were killed by a regime barrel bomb attack and rebel
rocket fire in Aleppo.
(Reuters, 7/8/15)(AFP, 7/8/15)(AFP, 7/9/15)(SFC,
7/23/15, p.A4)

2015 Jul 9, Syrian army troops
backed by war planes advanced to within several kilometers of
Palmyra, battling Islamic State group fighters outside the ancient
city. New UN figures said the number of people who have fled Syria
has surpassed 4 million.
(AFP, 7/9/15)(SFC, 7/10/15, p.A3)

2015 Jul 10, In Iraq and Syria
the United States and its allies carried out 34 air strikes against
Islamic State militants with 17 in Iraq and 17 in Syria.
(Reuters, 7/11/15)

2015 Jul 11, Syria monitors
said a helicopter strike on the Islamic State-controlled town of
al-Bab killed at least 28 people including 3 children. A Syrian
military source said the army had not carried out any air strikes
today in al-Bab.
(Reuters, 7/11/15)

2015 Jul 14, In northern Syria
a double suicide bombing in Idlib targeting the heqdquarters of
Ahrar-al-Sham, an ultraconservative Islamic rebel group, killed its
leader Abu Abdelrahman Salqeen, as well as 6 other high-ranking
members.
(SFC, 7/15/15, p.A2)
2015 Jul 14, In Iraq and Syria
the United States and its coalition partners targeted Islamic State
forces with 17 air strikes in Iraq and 16 Syria.
(Reuters, 7/15/15)

2015 Jul 15, In Syria 13
civilians, among them 7 children, were killed in aerial attacks by
the government on the northern province of Aleppo. 22 IS fighters
were killed when regime warplanes struck a convoy traveling between
the provinces of Deir Ezzor in the east and Hasakeh in the
northeast. Al-Qaeda's Syrian affiliate and its Islamist allies
launched an attack on the last two Shiite Muslim villages under
regime control in northwest Idlib province.
(AFP, 7/15/15)
2015 Jul 15, The Lebanese army
said troops have confiscated a drone in the eastern Bekaa Valley as
it was being taken to insurgents on the Syrian side of the border.
(AP, 7/15/15)

2015 Jul 16, In Syria Kurdish
fighters besieged members of the Islamic State group in the
northeastern city of Hassakeh as they pushed forward under the cover
of airstrikes by the US-led coalition. At least 11 civilians, among
them 3 children, were killed in regime barrel bomb attacks on
jihadist-held Al-Bab.
(AP, 7/16/15)(AFP, 7/16/15)

2015 Jul 17, Syrian authorities
released more than 240 prisoners, many of whom were detained under
"anti-terror" laws, to mark the Muslim Eid al-Fitr holiday.
(AFP, 7/18/15)

2015 Jul 18, British-based
organizations — Conflict Armament Research and Sahan Research —
reported that Islamic State forces used chemical agents delivered
through what appears to be locally manufactured shells to attack
Iraqi peshmerga forces and Syrian Kurdish People's Protection Units
(YPG), on June 21, 22 and 28.
(AP, 7/18/15)
2015 Jul 18, In Iraq and Syria
US-led forces targeted Islamic State militants with 16 air strikes
in Iraq and nine in Syria.
(Reuters, 7/19/15)

2015 Jul 20, A Syrian Kurdish
militia said it was in near full control of the northeastern city of
Hasaka, expanding its sway at the expense of the Damascus government
in the wake of an Islamic State attack in the area.
(Reuters, 7/20/15)

2015 Jul 20, Activists said the
Islamic State group is banning private internet access in its Syrian
bastion Raqa, forcing residents and even its own fighters to use
internet cafes where they can be monitored.
(AFP, 7/20/15)

2015 Jul 21, In northern Syria
a missile attack on a rebel-held neighborhood in the city of Aleppo
reportedly killed at least 18 people and wounded many others. At
least 7 people were reported killed in the shelling by the Army of
Conquest alliance on the regime-held villages of Fuaa and Kafraya
over the last 24 hours.
(AFP, 7/21/15)

2015 Jul 23, In Turkey
suspected Islamic State militants fired at a Turkish military
outpost from inside Syrian territory, killing a Turkish soldier and
wounding two others. 5 members of Islamic State were also killed
during the exchange of fire.
(AP, 7/23/15)(Reuters, 7/24/15)
2015 Jul 23, US defense
officials said that Turkey has agreed to allow manned US planes to
stage air strikes against Islamic State militants from an air base
at Incirlik, close to the Syrian border. US drones are already
launched from the base.
(Reuters, 7/24/15)

2015 Jul 24, Syria's two main
political opposition groups, long at odds, announced that they have
agreed on a "roadmap" to end their country's long-running civil war,
starting with establishment of a transitional governing body.
(AP, 7/24/15)
2015 Jul 24, Turkish warplanes
pounded Islamic State targets in Syria for the first time, with
President Tayyip Erdogan promising more decisive action against both
the jihadists and Kurdish militants at home. Police rounded up
nearly 300 people in raids against suspected Islamic State and
Kurdish militants.
(Reuters, 7/24/15)

2015 Jul 25, Syria's President
Bashar Assad granted a general amnesty for army deserters and draft
dodgers. The decree stipulated that deserters must turn themselves
within two months to benefit from the amnesty. Rebel rocket fire on
a government-held area of Aleppo killed 5 children, four of them
brothers.
(AP, 7/25/15)(AFP, 7/26/15)
2015 Jul 25, In Syria the
Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG) advanced in Hasakeh city
against IS and at the expense of the regime. The YPG was now said to
control 70 percent of Hasakeh city, the IS 10 percent and the regime
20 percent. Islamic State militants detonated explosive laden trucks
in two villages near the Kurdish-controlled border town of Tel
Abyad, with reports of casualties.
(AFP, 7/25/15)(Reuters, 7/25/15)
2015 Jul 25, Turkish fighter
jets and ground forces hit Islamic State militants in Syria and
Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) camps in Iraq overnight, in a campaign
Ankara said would help create a "safe zone" across swathes of
northern Syria. Kurdish militants said the conditions for
maintaining a ceasefire with Turkey were no longer in place, after
Turkish warplanes bombed their stronghold in northern Iraq.
(Reuters, 7/25/15)(AFP, 7/25/15)

2015 Jul 26, Syrian President
Bashar Assad, in his first public address in a year, vowed to win
his country's long-running civil war while acknowledging his troops
had lost territory because of a shortage of manpower.
(AP, 7/26/15)

2015 Jul 27, In northern Syria
the YPG made further gains against Islamic State, capturing a town
near the Euphrates River after a month-long offensive aimed at
cutting their supply lines. Kurdish fighters in northern Syria
accused the Turkish army of shelling their positions.
(Reuters, 7/27/15)
2015 Jul 27, Syrian journalist
Thaer al-Ajlani, working for pro-government media, was killed early
today as he was reporting on clashes in the Jobar area of east
Damascus.
(AFP, 7/27/15)
2015 Jul 27, A senior US
official said United States and Turkey have agreed to work together
to clear the Islamic State group from northern Syria.
(AFP, 7/27/15)

2015 Jul 29, An Israeli air
strike on a government-held village on the Syrian side of the Golan
Heights ceasefire line killed five pro-regime forces. An Israeli
drone attack in southern Syria killed at least three pro-government
gunmen.
(AFP, 7/29/15)(AP, 7/29/15)
2015 Jul 29, Syrian commander
Nadeem Hassan and seven of his fighters, trained by the US, were
kidnapped by the al-Nusra Front as they returned from a meeting in
Turkey. On August 16 Division 30 said seven of its members had been
freed by Al-Nusra. In late July 13 were kidnapped by Al-Nusra,
including a commander, and at least 3 more were killed in clashes
with the jihadist group.
(SFC, 7/31/15, p.A2)(AFP, 8/4/15)(AFP, 8/16/15)

2015 Jul 30, In northern Syria
at least 10 Kurdish fighters and 8 Islamic state members were killed
when IS jihadists attacked Sarrin, a town recently captured by
Kurdish forces.
(AFP, 7/30/15)
2015 Jul 30, In Iraq and Syria
the United States and its allies hit Islamic State forces. 17 air
strikes hit Iraq. In Syria 17 strikes hit Deir ez-Zor and 7 near
Hasakeh.
(Reuters, 7/31/15)

2015 Jul 31, In Syria members
of al-Qaida launched an attack on the command headquarters of a
US-backed rebel faction in northern Syria, killing at least five
fighters. US-led coalition air strikes destroyed two key bridges
used by the Islamic State group on the Syrian side of the Iraqi
border. 25 rebels, including 3 senior commanders, were killed in a
failed attack on a makeshift army base outside the northern city of
Aleppo. 9 regime forces were also killed in the fighting that
erupted after several rebel groups launched the attack late today.
(AP, 7/31/15)(AFP, 7/31/15)(AFP, 8/1/15)
2015 Jul 31, In Iraq and Syria
the United States and its allies launched air strikes with 19 in
Iraq and 11 in Syria in the coalition campaign against Islamic State
militants.
(Reuters, 8/1/15)

2015 Jul, Spanish journalists
Antonio Pampliega, Jose Manuel Lopez and Angel Sastre went missing a
few days after crossing into Syria from Turkey. They had gone to the
northern city of Aleppo to report on fighting there. All three
arrived in Madrid on May 8, 2016, in apparent good health after
nearly 10 months in captivity.
(Reuters, 5/8/16)

2015 Aug 1, The Syrian
Observatory for Human Rights said at least 20 regime forces and 19
rebels from the Army of Conquest alliance had been killed in 24
hours of clashes in Hama province's Sahl al-Ghab region.
(AFP, 8/1/15)

2015 Aug 2, US officials said
the United States has decided to allow airstrikes to defend Syrian
rebels trained by the US military from any attackers, even if the
enemies hail from forces loyal to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
(Reuters, 8/2/15)

2015 Aug 3, Syrian government
air raids in the northwestern town of Ariha and a subsequent crash
by a Syrian warplane that slammed into a residential area there
killed at least 31 people.
(AFP, 8/3/15)

2015 Aug 5, In central Syria
three IS suicide bombers targeted army checkpoints at the entrance
of Qaryatain, setting off a fierce battle.
(AP, 8/6/15)
2015 Aug 5, Two German-speaking
jihadists claiming to belong to the Islamic State militant group,
threatened Germany with attacks in an execution video broadcast
online. The five-minute clip shows the men use assault rifles to
kill two bound and kneeling male hostages in the Syrian ancient city
of Palmyra.
(AFP, 8/5/15)
2015 Aug 5, Turkey said a
US-led coalition will soon launch a "comprehensive battle" against
Islamic State militants from Turkish air bases, but Syria said any
military action not coordinated with Damascus would breach its
sovereignty.
(Reuters, 8/5/15)

2015 Aug 6, The Islamic State
group seized Qaryatain, a key town in central Syria, following heavy
clashes with President Bashar Assad's forces, in the militants'
biggest advance since capturing the historic town of Palmyra in May.
(AP, 8/6/15)
2015 Aug 6, In Syria a cousin
of President Bashar al-Assad shot dead a senior air force officer in
a road rage incident in the Latakia coastal heartland of their
minority Alawite community. On August 10 Latakia's Gov. Khodr
al-Salem said Suleiman Assad has been arrested. On Jan 21, 2016, a
court in Latakia sentenced Suleiman al-Assad to 20 years in prison
for the murder of Colonel Hassan al-Sheikh.
(AP, 8/7/15)(AP, 8/11/15)(AFP, 1/22/16)

2015 Aug 7, The UK-based Syrian
Observatory for Human Rights said at least 230 people were kidnapped
or detained, including dozens of Christians, some of whom were taken
from a church in Qaryatain, the town captured overnight after heavy
fighting with the Syrian army.
(Reuters, 8/7/15)
2015 Aug 7, In Iraq and Syria
the US-led coalition conducted 19 air strikes on Islamic State
targets with 10 in Iraq and nine in Syria.
(Reuters, 8/8/15)
2015 Aug 7, The UN Security
Council unanimously adopted a resolution aimed at identifying those
responsible for using chlorine and other chemical weapons in attacks
in Syria.
(SFC, 8/8/15, p.A3)

2015 Aug 8, Syrian activists
said hundreds of Christian families have fled the central town of
Sadad toward the government-held central city of Homs and Damascus,
as Islamic State fighters advanced toward it. A shell hit a street
in central Damascus, killing 5 people and wounding 36.
(AP, 8/8/15)
2015 Aug 8, Today marked the
anniversary of the US beginning airstrikes against the extremists in
Iraq. US-led forces conducted 16 air strikes in Iraq and seven in
Syria against Islamic State targets.
(AP, 8/8/15)(AP, 8/9/15)

2015 Aug 9, In Syria at least 9
people were killed and several wounded in a series of mortar bomb
attacks on Damascus. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said an
Islamist fighters' counter-offensive had forced the Syrian army to
withdraw from such villages as Mansoura, Zeyara and Tal Waset toward
bases northwest of Hama city.
(Reuters, 8/9/15)
2015 Aug 9, In Syria the al
Qaeda-linked Nusra Front said it has quit frontline positions
against Islamic State north of Aleppo and ceded them to other
rebels, leaving a northern area where Turkey wants to set up a
buffer zone. Rebels began heavy shelling on Fuaa and Kafraya, among
the last regime-held outposts in the northwestern province of Idlib.
At least 20 people were killed, including 8 civilians.
(Reuters, 8/10/15)(AFP, 8/10/15)(AP, 8/11/15)

2015 Aug 11, Russia and Saudi
Arabia failed in talks to overcome their differences on the fate of
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, a central dispute in Syria's civil
war that shows no sign of abating despite renewed diplomacy.
(Reuters, 8/11/15)

2015 Aug 11, A Syrian army
airstrike hit a busy vegetable market in the northern city of Idlib,
killing at least 7 people and wounding more than 23. The Islamic
State launched a new offensive against Syrian rebels north of
Aleppo. IS suicide attackers detonated four car bombs overnight. The
IS said its fighters had attacked two buildings in Marea. At least
25 Syrian rebels were killed overnight in an attack by Islamic State
group fighters on an insurgent stronghold in Aleppo province. At
least 8 IS fighters died.
(AP, 8/11/15)(Reuters, 8/11/15)(AFP, 8/11/15)

2015 Aug 12, In Syria heavy
rebel shelling and government airstrikes around Damascus killed at
least 36 people and wounded scores more in a surge in violence just
hours before the arrival of Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad
Zarif.
(AP, 8/12/15)
2015 Aug 12, Syria's warring
parties declared a 48-hour ceasefire in two frontline areas after
unprecedented mediation from Turkey and Iran. The ceasefire halted
fighting in the rebel-held town of Zabadani and in a pair of Shi'ite
Muslim villages in Idlib province.
(Reuters, 8/12/15)

2015 Aug 13, In Syria rockets
hit several districts in Latakia, a stronghold of Pres. Bashar
Assad, killing 2 civilians and wounding 13. A two-day cease-fire
between Hezbollah fighters and rebel groups in Zabadani, as well as
in Foua and Kfarya, two Shiite villages in Idlib province, was
extended for another 48 hours.
(AP, 8/13/15)
2015 Aug 13, Russia's foreign
minister hosted a delegation of the main Syrian opposition group,
part of the Kremlin's new push for a mediation role in the Syrian
conflict.
(AP, 8/13/15)

2015 Aug 15, In Syria a
temporary ceasefire between warring parties collapsed as
negotiations failed to reach a more permanent agreement to end
fighting in a town near the Lebanese border and two villages in the
northwest.
(Reuters, 8/15/15)

2015 Aug 16, A Syrian
government air strike northeast of Damascus killed at least 96
people in a marketplace in Douma. A Syrian military source said air
force strikes on Douma and nearby Harasta targeted the headquarters
of the rebel group Islam Army.
(Reuters, 8/16/15)(AFP, 8/17/15)

2015 Aug 17, In Syria rockets
fired by insurgents killed 3 people in the coastal city of Latakia,
a government stronghold.
(AP, 8/17/15)

2015 Aug 18, Syrian government
forces recaptured four northwestern villages as they pounded the
area with air strikes in a counter-attack on insurgents threatening
strongholds of President Bashar al-Assad.
(Reuters, 8/18/15)
2015 Aug 18, In Syria Islamic
State militants beheaded Khaled al-Asaad (81), a leading antiquities
scholar who spent most of his life looking after the ancient ruins
of Palmyra, then hung his body from a pole in a main square of the
historic town and then reportedly cut into pieces.
(AP, 8/19/15)(AFP, 8/23/15)
2015 Aug 18, Six Syrian
migrants, including an infant, drowned off the Turkish coast as they
tried to reach the Greek island of Kos.
(SFC, 8/19/15, p.A2)

2015 Aug 19, In northeastern
Syria a suicide bomber killed at least 16 people in an attack on
Kurdish security forces. The blast in Qamishli killed 10 members of
the Kurdish forces, called the Asayish, and 6 civilians. IS claimed
responsibility. Aerial bombardment by the government of Harasta, a
rebel stronghold east of Damascus, left at least 10 people dead.
(AFP, 8/19/15)
2015 Aug 19, The UN said
typhoid has broken out among residents of the Yarmouk Palestinian
refugee camp in Syria.
(Reuters, 8/19/15)

2015 Aug 20, A car ferry
carrying just over 2,400 Syrian refugees arrived on the Greek
mainland as a wave of migrants fleeing conflict and poverty
continued unabated.
(Reuters, 8/20/15)
2015 Aug 20, Israel hit 14
Syrian army positions in the Syrian-controlled sector of the Golan
in response to the rocket attacks.
(AFP, 8/20/15)

2015 Aug 21, In central Syria
the Islamic State group demolished the Saint Elian Monastery founded
more than 1,500 years ago, near Qaryatain, a town where the
extremists abducted dozens of Christians earlier this month.
(AP, 8/20/15)
2015 Aug 21, A UK military
drone strike killed 3 fighters in Syria, including 2 British men,
Reyaad Khan and Ruhul Amin, who had joined Islamic State militants.
This was the first such drone strike acknowledged by the British
government.
(AP, 9/7/15)(Econ, 9/12/15, p.44)(AP, 4/26/17)
2015 Aug 21, Israel said it
carried out an air raid that killed up to 5 Iran-backed militants it
said were behind a rare rocket attack from across the border in
Syria. Syrian television identified the victims as unarmed
civilians.
(AFP, 8/20/15)

2015 Aug 22, Syrian airstrikes
on the Damascus suburb of Douma killed 34 civilians and wounded
dozens in the latest wave of government attacks on the crowded
rebel-held area.
(AP, 8/22/15) (AFP, 8/23/15)
2015 Aug 22, Turkey said its
security forces have detained 435 migrants and Syrian refugees along
with three suspected people smugglers, before they embarked on an
attempt to cross the Aegean Sea to Greece.
(AFP, 8/22/15)

2015 Aug 23, In Syria separate
rocket attacks killed 11 people in the regime-held, Eastern Ghouta
neighborhood northeast of Damascus. One person was killed in the
capital itself. Airstrikes hit the town of Arbin, killing 4
civilians.
(AFP, 8/23/15)
2015 Aug 23, In Syria the
Islamic State group blew up a famed temple in Palmyra, in an act the
UN condemned as a war crime and an "immense loss" for humanity.
(AFP, 8/24/15)

2015 Aug 26, In Turkey Jamil
Raadoun, the commander of Sukour al-Ghab from the rebel Free Syrian
Army, died in a bomb attack on his car in the southern province of
Hatay. Raadoun, who defected from the Syrian army early on in the
four-year-old civil war, had been in Turkey for about a year.
(Reuters, 8/26/15)

2015 Aug 27, A Syrian judge
said courts are hearing a series of cases against officials accused
of corruption and mismanagement.
(AFP, 8/27/15)

2015 Aug 28, Syria's Al-Qaeda
offshoot and other rebel groups advanced towards a military airport
that is the last remaining government-held facility in the
northwestern province of Idlib.
(AFP, 8/28/15)
2015 Aug 28, Turkish jets took
part in US-led coalition air strikes against Islamic State in Syria
for the first time.
(AP, 8/29/15)

2015 Aug 29, A truce between
Syrian regime forces and rebel groups in three key towns ended early
today as the warring parties resumed clashes and shelling.
(AFP, 8/29/15)
2015 Aug 29, In Syria 8 IS
fighters were killed in a coalition air raid on Raqa, the de facto
"capital" of their caliphate. An IS car bomb on Tal Rifaat, in
Aleppo province, left 11 fighters and 8 civilians dead.
(AFP, 8/30/15)

2015 Aug 30, The Syrian
Observatory for Human Rights said 32 civilians were among 91 people
executed for "crimes" in the jihadist group's self-proclaimed
caliphate between July 29 and August 29.
(AFP, 8/30/15)
2015 Aug 30, In central Syria
Islamic State militants in Syria destroyed the main building of the
2,000-year-old Bel Temple in Palmyra, considered one of the greatest
sites of the ancient world.
(AP, 8/30/15) (SFC, 8/31/15,
p.A2)(Reuters, 9/1/15)
2015 Aug 30, The United States
and its allies staged 15 airstrikes on Islamic State targets in Iraq
and seven in Syria over the last 24 hours.
(Reuters, 8/30/15)

2015 Sep 2, In Syria at least
10 people were killed and dozens wounded when a car bomb exploded in
Latakia. Syrian air force strikes killed at least 14 people east of
Damascus. A mortar attack on part of the campus of Damascus
University killed at least 2 students and wounded several. Heavy
shelling killed 3 civilians and wounded 45 in Jaramana city, east of
Damascus.
(Reuters, 9/2/15)

2015 Sep 4, In Syria two
explosions late today and ensuing protests killed at least 37 people
including Druze leader Sheikh Wahid al-Balous in and around the town
of Sweida.
(Reuters, 9/5/15)

2015 Sep 4, In Syria two
explosions late today and ensuing protests killed at least 37 people
including Druze leader Sheikh Wahid al-Balous in and around the town
of Sweida. 20 Islamist and other rebel fighters were killed in the
clashes throughout the day centered on the town of Marea, Aleppo
province, along with 27 IS jihadists.
(Reuters, 9/5/15)(AFP, 9/5/15)

2015 Sep 6, Syria arrested an
Islamist insurgent from the al Qaeda-linked Nusra Front, who
confessed to the two car bombs on Sep 4 and involvement in unrest
that followed.
(Reuters, 9/6/15)
2015 Sep 6, In Iraq the US-led
coalition conducted 11 air strikes against the Islamic State, as
well as four strikes targeting the militant group in Syria.
(AP, 9/7/15)

2015 Sep 7, Syrian Observatory
for Human Rights said Islamic State fighters have seized the Jazal
oil field, last major oilfield under Syrian government control
during battles over a vast central desert zone. The Observatory also
said US-led coalition bombing raids in areas in the militant's de
facto capital of Raqqa had killed at least 16 militants, including
five foreign jihadists.
(Reuters, 9/7/15)
2015 Sep 7, A Greek official
said the United States has asked Greece to deny Russia the use of
its airspace for supply flights to Syria.
(Reuters, 9/7/15)

2015 Sep 9, The Syrian army
withdrew completely from Idlib province after insurgents captured
the Abu al-Duhur military airport there. In eastern Syria jihadists
of the Islamic State group edged closer to the regime-held military
airbase outside Deir Ezzor in heavy clashes that killed 36 IS
fighters. 56 soldiers either died in combat or were killed
afterwards by the insurgents. A coalition air raid west of Raqqa
reportedly killed as many as 20 civilians drafted to dig trenches
for the jihadists. On Sep 19 the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights
said a total of 71 members of government forces had been executed at
Abu al-Duhur air base since its capture.
(Reuters, 9/9/15)(AFP, 9/10/15)(Reuters,
9/10/15)(Reuters, 9/19/15)(Econ, 9/12/15, p.44)
2015 Sep 9, A Syrian military
official said Russian military experts have expanded their presence
in Syria over the last year. US officials said Russia has sent two
tank landing ships and additional aircraft to Syria in the past day
or so and has deployed a small number of naval infantry forces.
Germany's foreign minister warned Russia against increased military
intervention in Syria.
(Reuters, 9/9/15)
2015 Sep 9, Russia’s Foreign
Ministry confirmed that Russian military advisers were in Syria as
part of a long-standing agreement to provide military aid to the
government.
(SFC, 9/10/15, p.A3)

2015 Sep 11, In Syria 11 people
were reportedly killed in rebel rocket fire on Damascus. State news
said the shelling on the area had killed 4 people and injured 25.
(AP, 9/12/15)
2015 Sep 11, Russian Foreign
Minister Sergey Lavrov called on world powers to help arm the Syrian
army, describing it as the most efficient force against the Islamic
State group.
(AP, 9/11/15)

2015 Sep 14, In Syria at least
26 people including 2 children were killed in twin suicide car bomb
attacks in the northeastern city of Hasakeh. IS claimed
responsibility for the two attacks.
(AFP, 9/14/15)

2015 Sep 16, US and allied
forces conducted 21 air strikes in Iraq and one in Syria against
Islamic State militants.
(Reuters, 9/18/15)

2015 Sep 17, In Syria at least
53 people were killed in air raids by Syrian government forces in
rebel-held areas of the northern city of Aleppo over the last 24
hours. Syrian warplanes carried out at least 12 airstrikes across
Raqqa, the self-declared capital of the Islamic State group. In the
south regime barrel bombs killed at least 17 people in Bosra Sham.
(Reuters, 9/17/15)(AP, 9/17/15)(SFC, 9/18/15,
p.A2)

2015 Sep 18, Syrian regime
aircraft carried out at least 25 strikes on jihadist-controlled
Palmyra, the country's famed ancient city, with 8 civilians among
the dead.
(AFP, 9/18/15)
2015 Sep 18, Russia delivered
new arms including warplanes as the regime increases attacks on
jihadists.
(AFP, 9/22/15)
2015 Sep 18, The United States
and Russian militaries renewed high-level contacts to discuss their
roles in the conflict in Syria.
(AFP, 9/18/15)

2015 Sep 20, In Syria warring
parties agreed local ceasefires in two Shi'ite villages in
northwestern Syria and a town near the Lebanese border.
(Reuters, 9/20/15)

2015 Sep 20, In Syria warring
parties agreed local ceasefires in two Shi'ite villages in
northwestern Syria and a town near the Lebanese border. At least 14
civilians, including seven children, were killed when rebels shelled
a government-controlled neighborhood in the northern city of Aleppo.
(Reuters, 9/20/15)(AP, 9/20/15)

2015 Sep 21, In Syria heavy
bombardment by forces loyal to President Bashar al-Assad killed at
least 18 civilians in a residential district of the northern city of
Aleppo. 4 people were reported killed in twin car bomb attacks on
the frontier town of Ras al-Ain. Kurdish security forces were among
the dead. At least 38 Islamic State group fighters were killed in
air strikes by the Damascus regime against Palmyra and two other
towns in Homs province.
(AFP, 9/21/15)(AFP, 9/22/15)
2015 Sep 21, In Syria the
Islamic State group executed 7 men in Rastan, Homs province, and 2
men and a boy in Hreitan, Aleppo province, it accused of being gay.
(AFP, 9/22/15)
2015 Sep 21, Islamic State
militants released Massoud Aqeel, who was kidnapped last year in
northern Syria, as part of a prisoner swap with a Kurdish militia.
The IS group still held reporter Farhad Hamo.
(Reuters, 9/26/15)

2015 Sep 23, A senior adviser
to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad said Russia and the United
States have reached a "tacit agreement" on ending Syria's bloody
crisis.
(AFP, 9/24/15)

2015 Sep 24, Syrian government
planes carried out several airstrikes and dropped barrel bombs on
the IS-controlled city of Palmyra for the third straight day,
forcing hundreds of civilians to flee their homes in the ancient
city.
(AP, 9/24/15)
2015 Sep 24, The United States
and its coalition partners targeted Islamic State with 22 fresh
airstrikes in Iraq and Syria.
(Reuters, 9/25/15)

2015 Sep 25, In Syria a
UN-backed truce deal for two key front-lines was reached. The deal
allows rebels to evacuate from an area besieged by pro-government
forces in exchange for an evacuation of thousands of Shiites from
two villages surrounded by militants in northern Idlib province.
(AP, 9/25/15)

2015 Sep 26, The Syrian army
fired a missile into the last rebel-held neighborhood of the central
city of Homs killing 17 people, most of them civilians.
(AFP, 9/27/15)
2015 Sep 26, Moscow pressed its
military buildup at a new airbase in Syria. The US trained Division
30 of the New Syrian Forces handed over US provided military
equipment to the al-Qaeda affiliated al-Nusra Front in exchange for
safe passage in northern Syria.
(AFP, 9/26/15)(Reuters, 9/26/15)
2015 Sep 26, A coalition led by
the United States conducted 20 air strikes against Islamic State in
Iraq and three against the militant group in Syria.
(Reuters, 9/27/15)

2015 Sep 27, Syrian regime air
strikes killed 4 civilians in Kfarbatna. 2 people died inside
Damascus when opposition fighters fired shells onto the Adwa
district.
(AFP, 9/28/15)
2015 Sep 27, France launched
its first air strikes against Islamic State in Syria in an act of
"self-defense" to stop to the militant group from carrying out
attacks inside France.
(AP, 9/27/15)
2015 Sep 27, An Iraqi spokesman
said Iraq, Russia, Iran and Syria have agreed to set up an
intelligence committee in Baghdad aimed at sharing and analyzing
information.
(AFP, 9/27/15)

2015 Sep 28, In eastern Syria
15 civilians, including 5 children, were killed in regime air raids
on a popular market in the jihadist-held city of Mayadeen, Deir
Ezzor province.
(AFP, 9/28/15)
2015 Sep 28, Prers. Obama said
the United States is willing to work with Iran and Russia to try to
end the Syrian conflict, but insisted there could not be a return to
the status quo under Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
(Reuters, 9/28/15)
2015 Sep 28, UN Sec. Gen. Ban
Ki-Moon for the first time called for the civil war in Syria to be
referred to the Int’l. Criminal Court. Pres. Obama and Russian Pres.
Vladimir Putin sharply disagreed over the chaos in Syria.
(SFC, 9/29/15, p.A4)

2015 Sep 29, The United States
imposed sanctions against more than 30 Islamic State leaders,
financial figures, supporters and affiliated groups in an effort to
block the militants from the international financial system. The
newly designated individuals included citizens of Britain, France,
Russia, Syria, Morocco, Saudi Arabia and Tunisia.
(Reuters, 9/29/15)

2015 Sep 30, Russia launched
air strikes against Islamic State in Syria after Pres. Vladimir
Putin secured his parliament's unanimous backing to intervene to
prop up the Kremlin's closest Middle East ally. Russian air strikes,
which Moscow said targeted Islamic State fighters, hit a rebel group
in Hama province supported by Western opponents of Pres. Bashar
al-Assad. The Russian air strikes killed at least 36 civilians and
targeted areas where Islamic State and al Qaeda-linked fighters were
not present.
(Reuters, 9/30/15)

2015 Sep, UN figures showed that
Syria’s population has shrunk to just 16.6 million, down from a
pre-war level of 22 million.
(Econ, 9/26/15, p.46)

2015 Oct 1, In Iraq and Syria
the US-led coalition conducted 28 air strikes on Islamic State
targets.
(Reuters, 10/2/15)
2015 Oct 1, Two Lebanese
sources said hundreds of Iranian troops had reached Syria in the
past 10 days with weapons to mount a major ground offensive. Russian
jets struck targets near the cities of Hama and Homs in western
Syria on the second day of their surprise air campaign. The area
where it struck is held by a rival insurgent alliance, which unlike
Islamic State is supported by US allies including Arab states and
Turkey.
(Reuters, 10/1/15)
2015 Oct 1, The Pentagon
launched talks with the Russian military to discuss ways to avoid
mishaps in Syria between planes from the US-led coalition and
Moscow.
(AFP, 10/1/15)

2015 Oct 2, In Syria Islamic
State attacked government-held areas in the eastern city of Deir
al-Zor and an air base south of the city.
(Reuters, 10/2/15)
2015 Oct 2, Russia bombed Syria
for a third day, mainly hitting areas held by rival insurgent groups
rather than the Islamic State fighters it said it was targeting. The
US-led coalition called on the Russians to halt strikes on targets
other than Islamic State. Russia said it had bombed the Islamic
State stronghold of Raqa for the first time.
(Reuters, 10/2/15)(AFP, 10/2/15)
2015 Oct 2, In Iraq and Syria
the US-led coalition targeted Islamic State insurgents in 27 air
strikes.
(Reuters, 10/3/15)

2015 Oct 3, Russian jets hit
Islamic State targets and other rebel groups in Syria, on a fourth
day of air strikes by Moscow in support of President Bashar al-Assad
which have dramatically escalated foreign intervention in Syria.
Russia said its air strikes have sown "panic", forcing some 600
"militants" to abandon their positions and head to Europe.
(Reuters, 10/3/15)(AFP, 10/3/15)
2015 Oct 3, In Iraq and Syria
the United States and its allies carried out 16 air strikes against
Islamic State militants.
(Reuters, 10/4/15)

2015 Oct 4, Syrian activists
said that Islamic State militants have destroyed the Arch of
Triumph, a nearly 2,000-year-old arch in the ancient city of
Palmyra.
(AP, 10/4/15)
2015 Oct 4, In western Syria
air strikes by suspected Russian jets hit targets around the town of
Talbiseh. One resident said at least 5 bodies had been recovered
from the western part of the town. Russian planes also struck in
Homs and Hama provinces.
(Reuters, 10/4/15)
2015 Oct 4, The US-led
coalition targeted Islamic State with 13 airstrikes in Iraq and
eight in Syria.
(Reuters, 10/5/15)

2015 Oct 5, More than 40 Syrian
insurgent groups vowed to attack Russian forces in retaliation for
Moscow's air campaign in a show of unity among the usually
fragmented rebels against what they called the "occupiers" of Syria.
(AP, 10/5/15)
2015 Oct 5, In an online
statement dozens of Islamist Saudi Arabian clerics called on Arab
and Muslim countries to "give all moral, material, political and
military" support to what they term a jihad, or holy war, against
Syria's government and its Iranian and Russian backers.
(Reuters, 10/5/15)
2015 Oct 5, UNESCO's
director-general condemned the destruction of the Arch of Triumph in
the ancient Syrian city of Palmyra by Islamic State jihadists,
saying "extremists are terrified by history and culture".
(AFP, 10/5/15)
2015 Oct 5, In Iraq and Syria
the United States and its allies carried out 24 air strikes on
Islamic State targets.
(Reuters, 10/6/15)

2015 Oct 6, The Syrian
Observatory for Human Rights said Russian strikes at Palmyra killed
15 Islamic State fighters and destroyed 20 vehicles and three
weapons depots. Another 4 Islamic State fighters were reported
killed near Raqqa. The Observatory said Russian jets carried out at
least 34 air strikes in the last 24 hours. Russia’s defense ministry
dismissed reports that its planes had launched air strikes against
Palmyra.
(Reuters, 10/6/15)
2015 Oct 6, Russian strikes in
Syria targeted the main weapons depots of Liwa Suqour al-Jabal,
US-trained rebel group, in western Aleppo province and completely
destroyed them.
(Reuters, 10/7/15)
2015 Oct 6, In Iraq and Syria
the United States and its allies staged 23 air strikes on Islamic
State forces in the latest daily round of attacks on the militant
group.
(Reuters, 10/7/15)

2015 Oct 7, Russia and Syria
carried out what appeared to be the first major coordinated assaults
on Syrian insurgents. Moscow said its warships fired 26 missiles at
them from the Caspian Sea, a sign of its new military reach. In Hama
province at least 13 regime forces were killed in clashes that also
killed 11 rebel fighters.
(AP, 10/7/15) (Reuters,
10/8/15)

2015 Oct 8, Syrian troops and
allied militia backed by a fresh wave of Russian air strikes and
cruise missiles fired from warships attacked rebel forces as the
government extended a major offensive to recapture territory in the
west of the country. Insurgents shot down a helicopter in Hama
province. Iranian Gen. Hossein Hamedani of the elite Revolutionary
Guard Corps was killed late today near Aleppo.
(Reuters, 10/8/15)(Reuters, 10/9/15)

2015 Oct 9, In Syria Islamic
State fighters seized villages close to the city of Aleppo from
rival insurgents. The Russian defense ministry said air strikes on
rebel positions in the north had killed 300 anti-Assad insurgents in
nearly 70 sorties over the last day.
(Reuters, 10/9/15)
2015 Oct 9, France launched a
new air strike overnight in Syria against an Islamic State training
camp and said further strikes will follow.
(Reuters, 10/9/15)

2015 Oct 10, Russia said it had
stepped up its bombing campaign against Islamic State militants in
Syria, while local observers said several of the air strikes had hit
areas in western Syria where the hardline group has little presence.
(Reuters, 10/10/15)

2015 Oct 11, Russian war planes
pounded Syrian rebels unaffiliated with Islamic State, helping
Moscow's ally Bashar al-Assad reclaim territory and dealing a fresh
setback to the strategy of Washington and its allies. A senior
Hezbollah commander was killed in the battle while fighting on the
Syrian government's behalf.
(Reuters, 10/11/15)
2015 Oct 11, Russian President
Vladimir Putin met with Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Zayed
al-Nahyan to discuss security in the Middle East and the conflict in
Syria.
(Reuters, 10/11/15)

2015 Oct 12, Syrian army and
allied forces supported by Russian warplanes made further advances
as they pressed an offensive against insurgents, in the fiercest
clashes for nearly a week. Two Iranian senior Revolutionary Guards
officers were killed fighting Islamic State. Pro-government forces
including the Lebanese group Hezbollah captured the southern part of
Kafr Nabuda. At least 25 government fighters were killed.
(Reuters, 10/12/15)(Reuters, 10/13/15)(Reuters,
10/14/15)
2015 Oct 12, The EU demanded
the "immediate" halt of Russian air strikes against moderate Syrian
rebel groups and warned a lasting peace was impossible under
Moscow-backed President Bashar al-Assad.
(AFP, 10/12/15)
2015 Oct 12, A Kurdish militia
that has been fighting Islamic State in Syria with help from US-led
air strikes has joined forces with Arab groups in an alliance
announced on that may be a prelude to an attack on the jihadists'
base of operations in Raqqa.
(Reuters, 10/12/15)

2015 Oct 13, Insurgents in
Syria deployed more men and weapons, including significant
quantities of anti-tank missiles, to resist ground attacks by the
Syrian army and its allies, backed by Russian air strikes.
(Reuters, 10/13/15)
2015 Oct 13, Russia said its
air force hit 86 "terrorist" targets in Syria in the past 24 hours.
(AFP, 10/13/15)
2015 Oct 13, The United States
and its allies carried out 18 air strikes on Islamic State targets
in Iraq and Syria.
(Reuters, 10/14/15)

2015 Oct 14, In Syria Islamic
State militants battled rival insurgent groups north of the city of
Aleppo, where officials say the Syrian army is preparing an
offensive of its own backed by Iranian soldiers and Russian jets.
Russia said its jets hit 40 Islamic State targets in new strikes in
Syria over the past 24 hours.
(Reuters, 10/14/15)(AFP, 10/14/15)
2015 Oct 14, The United States
and its allies conducted 25 air strikes on Islamic State forces in
Iraq and Syria.
(Reuters, 10/15/15)

2015 Oct 15, Syrian troops and
their allies, backed by Russian jets, attacked rebel-held towns
north of the city of Homs, targeting a long-held and strategic
enclave of opposition to President Bashar al-Assad. A resident of
Teir Malla said at least 25 people were killed including, Rawad al
Aksah, a commander of insurgent group Liwaa
al-Tawhid.
(Reuters, 10/15/15)
2015 Oct 15, A coalition led by
the United States conducted three air strikes against Islamic State
in Syria and bombarded the militant group with 21 strikes in Iraq.
(Reuters, 10/16/15)
2015 Oct 15, In Syria Abdul
Mohsen Abdallah Ibrahim al-Charekh, a Saudi better known as Sanafi
al-Nasr, was killed in a US airstrike near the northern town of
Dana, along with another Saudi and a Moroccan member of al-Qaida's
local affiliate, known as the Nusra Front.
(AP, 10/17/15)(Reuters, 10/18/15)

2015 Oct 16, In Syria Denis
Cuspert, also known by his artist name Deso Dogg, was killed in a US
air strike. He used to rap in Berlin and was one of the most famous
Western fighters for the IS extremist group.
(AFP, 10/30/15)
2015 Oct 16, Turkey shot down a
drone in an incident highlighting the dangers of multiple air combat
operations over Syria. Russian warplanes hit areas in support of the
Syrian army's offensive south of Aleppo, around 35 km (20 miles)
from the Turkish border.
(Reuters, 10/16/15)
2015 Oct 16, UN experts said
the Islamic State group is paying supporters up to $10,000 for each
person that they recruit to wage jihad in Syria and Iraq.
(AFP, 10/16/15)

2015 Oct 17, Syrian troops
backed by Hezbollah and Iranian fighters made advances in their
offensive to retake territory around the northern city of Aleppo
from insurgents and jihadist fighters.
(Reuters, 10/17/15)
2015 Oct 17, Russia said its
air force has made 36 sorties, hitting 49 Islamic State targets in
Syria in the last 24 hours.
(Reuters, 10/17/15)
2015 Oct 17, The US-led
coalition conducted 18 air strikes against Islamic State in Iraq and
five in Syria, according to the task force organizing the military
operation.
(Reuters, 10/18/15)

2015 Oct 18, In Syria warplanes
believed to be Russian targeted mourners in al-Ghanto village who
were burying people killed a day earlier, killing four civilians.
(AP, 10/18/15)
2015 Oct 18, A US-led coalition
conducted 17 air strikes against Islamic State in Iraq and also
targeted the militant group in Syria with a single strike near
Manbij.
(Reuters, 10/19/15)

2015 Oct 19, Syrian government
forces advanced under the cover of Russian airstrikes toward an air
base besieged by the Islamic State group in the north. Rebels
battling the Syrian army and its allies near Aleppo said they had
received new supplies of US-made anti-tank missiles from states
opposed to President Bashar al-Assad since the start of a major
government offensive last week. The commander of the Nour al Din
al-Zinki Brigades was killed in fighting south of Aleppo.
(AP, 10/19/15)(Reuters, 10/19/15)(Reuters,
10/20/15)
2015 Oct 19, In Syria Russian
jets hit an Islamic State training camp and command post of Al-Qaeda
affiliate Al-Nusra Front as they bombed 49 targets in the latest
wave of strikes. Russian air strikes in Latakia province killed
rebel commander Basil Zamo and 4 other fighters from First Coastal
Division, a group armed by Pres. Bashar al-Assad's foreign enemies.
A further 15 civilians were killed in the air strike in Jabal Akrad.
At least 3 Russians fighting alongside Syrian government forces were
killed and several more wounded when a shell hit their position in
Latakia province.
(AFP, 10/19/15)(Reuters, 10/20/15)
2015 Oct 19, In Lebanon 8
people were killed and many wounded when the army targeted militant
positions along the eastern border with war-torn Syria.
(AFP, 10/19/15)
2015 Oct 19, US-led forces
conducted 15 air strikes against Islamic State in Iraq, eight of
them near the contested Sinjar area, and two air strikes in Syria.
(Reuters, 10/20/15)

2015 Oct 20, Syrian President
Bashar al-Assad flew to Moscow to thank Russia's Vladimir Putin
personally for his military support, in a surprise visit that
underlined how Russia has become a major player in the Middle East.
(Reuters, 10/21/15)
2015 Oct 20, In Syria 13 people
including medical staff were reportedly killed in Russian air
strikes against a field hospital in the northwestern province of
Idlib that was run by the Syrian-American Medical Society. Russia
later called the reports fake.
(AFP, 10/22/15)
2015 Oct 20, Russia's defense
ministry said its planes had flown 55 sorties and struck 60 Islamist
militant targets in Syria in the last 24 hours.
(Reuters, 10/20/15)
2015 Oct 20, The US and Russia
signed an agreement designed to minimize the risk of collisions and
other dangers as both countries carry out air strikes in Syria.
(SFC, 10/21/15, p.A2)

2015 Oct 21, In northern Syria
a new administration was formed for a majority Sunni-Arab town
controlled by Syrian Kurds, expanding the ethnic group's
semi-autonomous administration. A local leadership council including
representatives of Tel Abyad's Arab, Kurdish, Turkmen and Armenian
communities declared it part of the system of autonomous
self-government established by the Kurds.
(AP, 10/21/15)(Reuters, 10/21/15)
2015 Oct 21, Russia said its
jets have hit 83 targets in Syria over the past 24 hours.
(AFP, 10/21/15)
2015 Oct 21, The US-led
coalition fighting Islamic State targeted the militant group with 22
air strikes in Syria and Iraq.
(Reuters, 10/22/15)

2015 Oct 22, The Russian
defense ministry said its planes had flown 53 sorties and struck 72
militant targets in Syria in the last 24 hours.
(Reuters, 10/22/15)
2015 Oct 22, The United States
and its allies carried out 16 air strikes against Islamic State
militants in Iraq and Syria.
(Reuters, 10/23/15)

2015 Oct 23, The Syrian
Observatory for Human Rights said Russian air strikes in Syria have
killed at least 446 people, more than a third of them civilians,
since they began end-September.
(AFP, 10/23/15)
2015 Oct 23, The United States,
Russia, Turkey and Saudi Arabia met in Vienna to explore a political
solution to the Syrian civil war despite the basic US-Russian
disagreement over Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's fate.
(AP, 10/23/15)

2015 Oct 24, Syrian troops
backed by Russian air strikes battled Islamic State group fighters
in a bid to restore a key supply line to Aleppo. The Syrian
Observatory for Human Rights said at least 28 IS fighters and 21
troops and militia have been killed in the battle for the road that
leads to the government-held sector of Aleppo.
(AFP, 10/24/15)
2015 Oct 24, In Syria Vadim
Kostenko (19) a Russian soldier, reportedly hanged himself at a base
on the Syrian coast because of problems in his personal life. At his
funeral his father said there were no signs on the body to support
the official account.
(Reuters, 10/28/15)
2015 Oct 24, The Russian
defense ministry said its planes had flown 934 sorties and destroyed
819 militant targets in Syria since the start of its operation there
on Sept. 30.
(Reuters, 10/24/15)
2015 Oct 24, The United States
and Saudi Arabia agreed to increase support to Syria's moderate
opposition while seeking a political resolution of the four-year
conflict as Secretary of State John Kerry met with King Salman.
(Reuters, 10/2515)
2015 Oct 24, The US-led
coalition fighting Islamic State militants in Iraq and Syria carried
out 22 air strikes.
(AP, 10/2515)

2015 Oct 25, Turkish military
shot at Kurdish forces deployed in the town of Tal Abyad, Syria,
using mostly machine guns. There were no casualties in the shooting
and the Kurdish forces didn't return fire.
(AP, 10/27/15)

2015 Oct 26, In Syria the
Islamic State group killed 3 of its captives in the ancient city of
Palmyra by tying them to Roman-era columns at the site, then blowing
the structures up with explosives.
(AP, 10/27/15)
2015 Oct 26, The Russian
defense ministry said its planes had flown 164 sorties and struck
285 Islamic State and Jabhat al-Nusra militant targets in Syria in
the last three days.
(Reuters, 10/2615)

2015 Oct 27, The Syrian
presidency said political initiatives could not work in Syria before
terrorism had been wiped out, sticking by its long-held position on
how to end the war after its Russian allies called for new
elections.
(Reuters, 10/27/15)

2015 Oct 28, Iran said Foreign
Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif and three of his deputies will attend
multilateral talks on Oct 29 in Vienna aimed at resolving the
conflict in Syria. Egypt, Iraq, Lebanon, the European Union and
France also said they would attend the talks.
(Reuters, 10/28/15)
2015 Oct 28, Russia said its
air force flew 71 sorties over Syria in the last two days, carrying
out 118 strikes on militant targets.
(Reuters, 10/28/15)

2015 Oct 29, The British-based
Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said there had been 595 deaths
in Syria from Russian air strikes since September 30. Russian
warplanes renewed strikes, including in the central province of Homs
and the northwestern province of Idlib.
(AFP, 10/29/15)
2015 Oct 29, In southern Turkey
Syrian activists Ibrahim Abdelqader, aka Ibrahim Abdul-Qadir (22),
and Fares Hamadi (20), journalists for the "Raqqa is being
slaughtered silently" collective, were murdered by Islamic State
operatives in Sanliurfa.
(AP, 10/30/15)(AP, 12/17/15)(AP, 8/14/17)
2015 Oct 29, The United States
and its allies conducted 11 air strikes against Islamic State
militants in Iraq and one in Syria.
(Reuters, 10/30/15)

2015 Oct 30, In Syria at least
47 people were killed and about 100 wounded when government forces
fired missiles into a marketplace at Douma, a town 10 miles from
Damascus. In the northeast a coalition of US-backed Kurdish militia
and rebel groups launched its first operation against territory
controlled by the IS jihadist group.
(Reuters, 10/30/15)(AFP, 10/31/15)
2015 Oct 30, Iran signaled it
backed a six-month transition period in Syria followed by elections
to decide Bashar al-Assad's fate, a proposal floated at peace talks
as a concession but which the president's foes rejected as a trick
to keep him in power. Multilateral talks in Vienna failed, as
expected, to reach a consensus on the future of President Bashar
al-Assad.
(Reuters, 10/30/15)(Reuters, 11/2/15)
2015 Oct 30, In southern Turkey
Syrian activists Ibrahim Abdul-Qadir and Fares Hamadi, belonging to
a collective that reports on Islamic State atrocities, were found
slain in the city of Sanliurfa.
(AP, 10/30/15)
2015 Oct 30, US sources said
President Barack Obama plans to deploy a small number of special
operations forces to Syria to advise moderate rebels, a step he has
long resisted to avoid getting dragged into another war in the
Middle East.
(Reuters, 10/30/15)
2015 Oct 30, The US-led
coalition launched seven air strikes against Islamic State targets
in Syria and 14 in Iraq.
(Reuters, 10/31/15)

2015 Oct 31, The US pledged
nearly $100 million in fresh aid to support the Syrian opposition as
Western and Arab officials gathered in Bahrain for the Manama
Dialogue security conference.
(SSFC, 11/1/15, p.A4)
2015 Oct 31, The US-led
coalition conducted nine air strikes against Islamic State targets
in Syria and 16 in Iraq. Air strikes by Turkish and US aircraft in
Syria killed more than 50 Islamic State militants and wounded around
30.
(Reuters, 11/1/15)

2015 Oct, Five Syrian media
activists were captured by the Islamic State group. They were later
believed to have been killed in December over their coverage of
events in the eastern city of Deir el-Zour, half of which is held by
IS. On June 26, 2016, a graphic video emerged showing their killing.
(AP, 6/26/16)
2015 Oct, Syrian security
services executed Bassel Khartabil (aka Bassel Safadi), a
Palestinian-Syrian software pioneer, after torturing him in prison.
In 2017 his widow Noura Ghazi Safadi wrote on Facebook that she
received confirmation of his execution.
(AP, 8/2/17)

2015 Nov 1, Islamic State
fighters seized the Syrian town of Maheen in Homs province from
government forces, expanding their presence in Syria's west despite
a Russian-backed bombing campaign against them. At least 50 fighters
on the government side were killed or wounded.
(Reuters, 11/1/15)
2015 Nov 1, The US-led
coalition conducted 10 air strikes against Islamic State in Syria on
Sunday and 17 in Iraq.
(Reuters, 11/2/15)

2015 Nov 2, Russia said its air
force flew 131 sorties and hit 237 targets in Syria in the last two
days.
(Reuters, 11/2/15)
2015 Nov 2, The United States
and its allies conducted 15 air strikes against Islamic State in
Iraq and seven in Syria.
(Reuters, 11/3/15)

2015 Nov 3, Syrian journalist
Batoul Mokhles al-Warar was killed in a suburb of Damascus, amid
clashes and shelling between government troops and rebel fighters.
(AP, 11/3/15)
2015 Nov 3, The Syrian
Observatory for Human Rights said it has confirmed 185 civilians
killed in Russian airstrikes in the past month. It also reported and
131 IS fighters as well as 279 rebels not connected to IS killed in
the Russian airstrikes. Air strikes by Russian warplanes on the
Islamic State-held city of Raqqa killed 42 people, including 27
civilians.
(SFC, 11/4/15, p.A3)(Reuters, 11/6/15)
2015 Nov 3, Iran's
semi-official news agency Fars said Col. Mostafa Ezzatollah
Soleimani, an officer with the elite Revolutionary Guard force, had
died in fighting in Syria's contested province of Aleppo.
(AP, 11/3/15)
2015 Nov 3, The United States
and its allies targeted Islamic State with 25 air strikes in Iraq
and Syria.
(Reuters, 11/4/15)

2015 Nov 4, Syria's army
recaptured the only road into the government-held side of Aleppo
city from Islamic State group fighters. Rebels shot down a
government MiG warplane with anti-aircraft fire in Hama province,
forcing its pilot to eject. The pilot died after his parachute
failed. Warplanes believed to be Russian carried out several air
strikes on areas of the northwest that were included in a local
ceasefire agreed by warring sides in September.
(AFP, 11/4/15)(Reuters, 11/4/15)

2015 Nov 5, Syrian rebels,
including jihadists, seized the last government-held town on the
main highway between second city Aleppo and the city of Hama. Air
strikes on the town on Albu Kamal on the Syrian border with Iraq
killed 49 people, at least 31 of them civilians.
(AFP, 11/5/15)(AFP, 11/7/15)
2015 Nov 5, France announced it
would deploy an aircraft carrier to boost its fight against the
Islamic State group, which has seized control of large parts of Iraq
and Syria.
(AFP, 11/5/15)
2015 Nov 5, Turkey, said it was
planning to soon launch a military campaign against IS. Turkey
shares an 800-km (500-mile) border with northern Syria.
(AFP, 11/5/15)
2015 Nov 5, The United States
and its allies targeted Islamic State in Iraq with 14 air strikes,
and also hit the militant group with nine air strikes in Syria.
(Reuters, 11/6/15)
(AP, 11/7/15)

2015 Nov 7, The Islamic State
group released 37 Syrian Christians, most of them women, who were
among more than 200 people kidnapped in February. The Britain-based
Observatory said at least 23 civilians, were killed in suspected
Russian air strikes on rebel-held Douma, outside Damascus.
(AFP, 11/7/15)

2015 Nov 8, In northwestern
Syria suspected Russian air strikes killed at least 11 civilians in
two towns in Idlib province. At least 10 people were killed in
government air strikes on a town held by the Islamic State group in
Aleppo province. Another 4 people, including a child, were killed in
rebel fire on the government-held area of Aleppo city.
(AFP, 11/8/15)

2015 Nov 9, In Syria
pro-government gunmen captured the village of Sheikh Ahmad in Aleppo
province. The troops advanced under the cover of Russian and Syrian
airstrikes.
(AP, 11/9/15)
2015 Nov 9, In eastern Syria
the French army bombed an oil supply center near Deir Ezzor held by
the Islamic State group, targeting part of an oil distribution
station and secondly a gas separation plant.
(AFP, 11/9/15)(AFP, 11/10/15)
2015 Nov 9, Russia's Defense
Ministry said its air force flew 137 sorties and hit 448 targets in
Syria in the last three days.
(Reuters, 11/9/15)

2015 Nov 10, Syrian army troops
reached the northern Kweires air base in Aleppo province, breaking a
nearly two-year siege by insurgents on the facility. At least 100
soldiers and fighters were killed in just over 24 hours of fierce
fighting as pro-government forces reached the Kweires airbase. At
least 22 people were killed in mortar fire on the coastal city of
Latakia. One person was killed and five wounded in a mortar attack
on residential areas of Damascus. Another 4 people, including a
child, were killed in government rocket fire on Douma.
(AFP, 11/10/15)(Reuters, 11/12/15)
2015 Nov 10, The United States
and its allies conducted 11 strikes against Islamic State in Syria
and 17 in Iraq.
(Reuters, 11/11/15)

2015 Nov 11, Syrian opposition
figures and Gulf commentators dismissed a Russian draft proposal for
a process to solve the Syrian crisis, saying Moscow's aim was to
keep President Bashar al-Assad in power and marginalize dissenting
voices.
(Reuters, 11/11/15)
2015 Nov 11, Russia's Defense
Ministry said its air force flew 85 sorties and hit 277 terrorist
targets in Syria in the last two days.
(Reuters, 11/11/15)

2015 Nov 12, The Islamic State
released a Russian-language video threatening attacks in Russia
"very soon".
(Reuters, 11/12/15)
2015 Nov 12, A US attack in the
Syrian town of Raqqa reportedly killed Mohammed Emwazi, aka British
Islamic State leader "Jihadi John." The air strike resulted from a
combined effort between Britain and the United States.
(Reuters, 11/13/15)

2015 Nov 13, Russia said its
air force flew 107 sorties and hit 289 terrorist targets in Syria on
November 11-12.
(Reuters, 11/13/15)
2015 Nov 13, The United States
and its allies targeted Islamic State in Iraq with 20 air strikes,
and also hit the militant group with seven air strikes in Syria.
(AP, 11/14/15)

2015 Nov 14, Syrian President
Bashar al-Assad said that French policy had contributed to the
"spread of terrorism" that culminated in attacks claimed by the
Islamic State group which killed 128 people in Paris.
(AFP, 11/14/15)
2015 Nov 14, The Islamic State
group claimed responsibility for a wave of attacks in Paris that
killed 127 people.
(AP, 11/14/15)
2015 Nov 14, Syria's al Qaeda
offshoot, the Nusra Front, said it had captured three Lebanese
Hezbollah fighters in northern Syria.
(Reuters, 11/14/15)

2015 Nov 15, In Syria coalition
strikes destroyed 116 fuel trucks used by the jihadist group near
Albu Kamal, an IS-held town in Deir Ezzor province on the border
with Iraq. French raids hit the IS stronghold of Raqa. A coalition
strike destroyed 116 jihadists' oil trucks. 11 pro-government forces
were killed and 45 were wounded when rebels, including Islamists,
attacked them in Aleppo city. Warplanes believed to be Russian
carried out 40 air strikes, including on the ancient city of
Palmyra.
(AFP, 11/16/15)
2015 Nov 15, In Syria Abu Ali
al-Baridi, the leader of Al-Yarmuk Martyrs Brigade, a militant
Syrian faction that had pledged allegiance to the Islamic State
group, was killed along with two other leaders in a suicide attack
by rival jihadists of al-Nusra.
(AFP, 11/15/15)

2015 Nov 16, Islamic State
warned in a new video that countries taking part in air strikes
against Syria would suffer the same fate as France, and threatened
to attack in Washington.
(Reuters, 11/16/15)

2015 Nov 17, In Syria
Al-Qaeda's Syrian affiliate Al-Nusra Front said it had downed two
Russian reconnaissance drones over a military airport it controls in
the northwest.
(AFP, 11/18/15)
2015 Nov 17, France and Russia
staged air strikes on Islamic State targets in northern Syria,
punishing the group for the Nov 13 attacks in Paris and against a
Russian airliner on Oct 31 that together killed 353 people.
(Reuters, 11/17/15)
2015 Nov 17, The US-led
coalition fighting Islamic State conducted 16 air strikes in Iraq
and 13 in Syria.
(Reuters, 11/18/15)

2015 Nov 18, The Syrian
Observatory for Human Rights monitoring group said French and
Russian bombardments on Raqqa have killed at least 33 Islamic State
militants over the past three days.
(Reuters, 11/18/15)
2015 Nov 18, The Islamic State
said in its magazine that it had killed a Chinese and a Norwegian
captive, showing what appeared to be pictures of the dead men with a
banner reading "executed."
(Reuters, 11/18/15)
2015 Nov 18, Physicians for
Human Rights said Syrian government attacks on hospitals in Aleppo
have devastated the frontline city's health care, with roughly 95
percent of doctors having fled, been detained or killed.
(AFP, 11/18/15)
2015 Nov 18, An international
coalition led by the United States conducted 19 air strikes against
Islamic State in Iraq, targeting the militant group near Kirkuk,
Kisik, Mosul, Ramadi and Sinjar. The coalition targeted Islamic
State in Syria with eight strikes, including four that hit tactical
units and destroyed buildings near Al Hasaka. One strike near Ar
Raqqa hit a storage facility.
(Reuters, 11/19/15)

2015 Nov 19, Syrian warplanes
carried out airstrikes on a suburb of Damascus after talks for a
two-week truce between the government and rebels collapsed.
(AP, 11/19/15)
2015 Nov 19, An international
coalition led by the United States targeted Islamic State in Iraq
with 20 air strikes. There were no strikes in Syria.
(Reuters, 11/20/15)
2015 Nov 19, Russian's military
blasted targets across Syria with long-range strategic bombers for a
third day.
(AFP, 11/19/15)

2015 Nov 20, The Syrian
Observatory for Human Rights said more than 1,300 people, around
two-thirds of them combatants, have been killed in Russian air
strikes in Syria since Moscow's aerial campaign began on September
30.
(AFP, 11/20/15)
2015 Nov 20, Russian and Syrian
warplanes carried out more than 70 strikes in eastern Deir Ezzor
province, killing at least 36 people including 10 children. Dozens
of oil tankers were destroyed. Russian Defense Minister Sergei
Shoigu said that more than 600 rebels had been eliminated as a
result of a cruise missile strike a target in Syrian Deir ez-Zour
province.
(AFP, 11/20/15)(Reuters, 11/20/15)(AFP, 11/21/15)
2015 Nov 20, Turkish media
reported that authorities have seized close to the Syrian border a
record haul of almost 11 million pills of the synthetic stimulant
drug captagon which is believed to play a crucial part in Syria's
civil war. It has been repeatedly dubbed as the drug fueling Syria's
civil war since its production provides income for the warring
factions and also keeps fighters awake and energized over long
periods.
(AFP, 11/20/15)

2015 Nov 21, Syrian rebels
backed by Turkey and the United States seized two villages from
Islamic State (IS) jihadists close to the Turkish border after
fierce fighting.
(AFP, 11/21/15)
2015 Nov 21, Syrian journalist
Wasim al-Nuqari (38) was killed while covering the army's operations
against Islamic State militants in the country's central region.
(AP, 11/21/15)
2015 Nov 21, The United States
and its allies conducted 16 strikes against Islamic State in Iraq
and nine in Syria. The US military destroyed 283 tanker trucks used
by the militants to transport oil from producing fields in eastern
Syria to smuggling points.
(Reuters, 11/22/15)(AP, 11/23/15)

2015 Nov 22, In Syria a bomb
placed on a motorcycle exploded in Tel Abyad, a Kurdish-held town
along the Turkish border, killing at least 3 and wounded 20 others.
(Reuters, 11/22/15)

2015 Nov 23, Syrian troops
backed by Russian airstrikes captured areas from the Islamic State
group in the central province of Homs, in the latest push since the
aerial campaign began nearly two months ago. A US official said
recent attacks with chlorine and mustard gas on the battlefield in
Syria show that the use chemical weapons in the civil war is
becoming routine.
(AP, 11/23/15)(Reuters, 11/23/15)
2015 Nov 23, Russia said its
warplanes had hit 472 targets in war-torn Syria in the past two
days, including tanker trucks and oil infrastructure in territory
controlled by the Islamic State group.
(AFP, 11/23/15)
2015 Nov 23, A US-led coalition
targeted Islamic State in Iraq and Syria with 26 air strikes against
the militant group.
(Reuters, 11/24/15)

2015 Nov 24, Syrian fighters
destroyed a Russian helicopter with a missile, shortly after they
forced it to make an emergency landing in a nearby government-held
area in Latakia province.
(Reuters, 11/24/15)
2015 Nov 24, Turkey shot down a
Russian warplane near the Syrian border, saying it had repeatedly
violated its air space, one of the most serious publicly
acknowledged clashes between a NATO member country and Russia for
half a century. The pilot was shot dead by rebels as he parachuted
to the ground.
(Reuters, 11/24/15)(Reuters, 11/25/15)

2015 Nov 25, Russian forces
launched a heavy bombardment against insurgent-held areas in Syria's
Latakia province, near where a Russian warplane had been shot down
by Turkey the day before. Air strikes hit a crossing on the Syrian
side of the border with Turkey's southern province of Kilis. The
strikes reportedly hit a garage for commercial trailers, killing 3
people.
(Reuters, 11/25/15)(AP, 11/25/15)
2015 Nov 25, Russia sent an
advanced missile system to Syria to protect its jets operating there
and pledged its air force would keep flying missions near Turkish
air space, sounding a defiant note after Turkey shot down a Russian
fighter jet.
(Reuters, 11/25/15)
2015 Nov 25, The surviving crew
member of a Russian warplane shot down by Turkey said the plane
received no warnings from the Turkish Air Force and did not fly over
Turkish air space. Navigator Konstantin Murakhtin was rescued by
Russian and Syrian special forces after ejecting from the plane. The
US said data showed the Russian aircraft had transited Turkish
airspace.
(Reuters, 11/25/15)(SFC, 11/26/15, p.A4)
2015 Nov 25, The United States
and its allies staged 27 strikes against Islamic State in Iraq and
Syria.
(Reuters, 11/26/15)

2015 Nov 26, Syrian residents
said that Russian warplanes bombed the rebel-held town of Saraqeb,
Idlib province, along the Turkish border a day after hitting a truck
depot near a crossing between the two countries.
(Reuters, 11/26/15)
2015 Nov 26, French President
Francois Hollande arrived in Moscow for talks on Syria with Russia's
Vladimir Putin. They agreed to tighten cooperation in the fight
against the Islamic State group, although they remained at odds over
their approach toward Syrian President Bashar Assad.
(AFP, 11/26/15)(AP, 11/27/15)
2015 Nov 26, Germany confirmed
that it will deploy Tornado reconnaissance jets to support France in
the fight against Islamic State militants in Syria.
(Reuters, 11/26/15)

2015 Nov 27, In Syria suspected
Russian warplanes carried out several air strikes on the town of
Azaz near the Turkish border, killing an estimated 5 people
including a child. A series of airstrikes on Raqqa killed at least 8
people including 5 children.
(Reuters, 11/27/15)(SFC, 11/28/15, p.A2)
2015 Nov 27, Turkish media said
the government has "temporarily" suspended air strikes against
Islamic State targets in Syria after the downing of a Russian
warplane on the Syrian border sparked a major row with Moscow.
(AFP, 11/27/15)

2015 Nov 28, Syrian state
reported that the Syrian army has captured territory from Islamic
State east of Aleppo including several kilometers of highway linking
the city with the jihadists' de facto capital of Raqqa. One person
was killed and 30 wounded in rocket and mortar attacks on two
neighborhoods of Damascus.
(Reuters, 11/28/15)(AFP, 11/28/15)
2015 Nov 28, The United States
and its allies conducted 19 strikes against Islamic State in Iraq
and three in Syria.
(Reuters, 11/29/15)

2015 Nov 29, The Syrian
Observatory for Human Rights said airstrikes believed to have been
carried out by Russian warplanes killed at least 18 people and
wounded dozens in the insurgent held town of Ariha. Ariha Today, a
Facebook page that covers events in the town, said the airstrikes
killed 40 people and wounding more than 70.
(AP, 11/29/15)
2015 Nov 29, Turkey recovered
the body of Russian pilot Oleg Peshkov from northern Syria and
presented it to Russian diplomats, five days after shooting down his
warplane in an incident that wrecked relations between the two
countries.
(Reuters, 11/29/15)
2015 Nov 29, The United States
and its allies conducted 15 strikes against Islamic State in Iraq
and Syria.
(Reuters, 11/30/15)

2015 Nov 30, In northern Syria
15 militants, 8 DFS fighters and 20 civilians were reported killed
over the last 24 hours near the border area near Azaz.
(AP, 11/30/15)
2015 Nov 30, A coalition led by
the United States conducted 12 strikes against Islamic State in
Iraq, and hit the militant group with a single strike in Syria.
(Reuters, 12/1/15)

2015 Nov, The number of Islamic
State fighters in Iraq and Syria was estimated at 30 to 100
thousand. Pentagon sources said coalition airstrikes have killed
20,000 IS fighters over the last 14 months. Coalition airstrikes
against the IS this month alone numbered more than 3,000.
(Econ, 11/21/15, p.23)(Econ, 12/12/15, p.47)

2015 Dec 1, The Syrian
Observatory for Human Rights and a Syrian official said a deal has
been reached for thousands of insurgents to leave the last
opposition-held neighborhood in the city of Homs. Implementation of
the deal will begin early next week.
(AP, 12/1/15)
2015 Dec 1, Al Qaeda's Syrian
wing freed 16 Lebanese soldiers and policemen in exchange for the
release of jailed Islamists including the ex-wife of Islamic State
leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.
(Reuters, 12/1/15)
2015 Dec 1, The German cabinet
approved a mandate offering military assistance to back the
international fight against the Islamic State jihadist group
following the Paris attacks.
(AFP, 12/1/15)
2015 Dec 1, The United States
and its allies staged 17 air strikes against Islamic State in Iraq
and Syria.
(Reuters, 12/2/15)
2015 Dec 1, US Defense
Secretary Ash Carter said the United States is deploying a
specialized expeditionary targeting force to help Iraq put
additional pressure on Islamic State and be positioned to conduct
unilateral operations into Syria.
(Reuters, 12/1/15)
2015 Dec 1, US General Joe
Dunford, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said that
approximately 43 percent of the revenue stream that ISIL derives
from oil has been affected over the past 30 days.
(Reuters, 12/1/15)

2015 Dec 2, In Syria rebel
shelling of Damascus reportedly killed two women and wounded 26
people, including 16 students.
(AP, 12/2/15)
2015 Dec 2, The Islamic State
posted footage online of Magomed Khasiev (23) in an orange jump suit
kneeling beside a lake in Syria and confessing in Russian to spying
on Islamic State militants. Another Russian speaker, this one in
camouflage fatigues, then uses a hunting knife to hack off the
kneeling man's head.
(Reuters, 12/29/15)
2015 Dec 2, Britain voted to
extend airstrikes to Syria.
(Reuters, 12/3/15)
2015 Dec 2, Russia's defense
ministry said it had proof that Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan and
his family were benefiting from the illegal smuggling of oil from
Islamic State-held territory in Syria and Iraq.
(Reuters, 12/2/15)
2015 Dec 2, A coalition led by
the United States bombarded Islamic State in Syria with 14 air
strikes, and also hit the militant group in Iraq with 18 strikes.
(Reuters, 12/3/15)

2015 Dec 3, Britain joined the
US-led air strikes against Islamic State in Syria.
(Reuters, 12/3/15)

2015 Dec 4, In Syria at least
35 civilians were killed and dozens wounded in a series of regime
raids on a rebel stronghold east of Damascus.
(AFP, 12/4/15)
2015 Dec 4, British bombers
made their second round of strikes on Islamic State targets in Syria
late today, again hitting oil fields.
(Reuters, 12/5/15)
2015 Dec 4, Germany's lower
house of parliament approved government plans to join the military
campaign against Islamic State in Syria.
(Reuters, 12/4/15)
2015 Dec 4, The United States
and its allies targeted Islamic State with 12 strikes in Iraq and 11
in Syria.
(Reuters, 12/5/15)

2015 Dec 5, Syrian Turkmen
rebel fighters seized three villages from the Islamic State group
near the Turkish border in clashes over the last 24 hours that
killed 13 from the ethnic minority.
(AFP, 12/5/15)
2015 Dec 5, The United States
and its allies conducted 17 air strikes against Islamic State in
Iraq and 12 in Syria.
(Reuters, 12/6/15)

2015 Dec 6, At least 32 Islamic
State fighters were killed and 40 more wounded in Syria's Raqqa
province, in a series of air strikes believed to be carried out by a
US-led coalition targeting the jihadists.
(Reuters, 12/6/15)

2015 Dec 7, Syria's government
accused the US-led coalition of launching airstrikes a day earlier
on an army camp in Der el-Zour that killed 3 soldiers and wounded
13, which if confirmed would mark the first time US-led forces have
struck troops loyal to President Bashar Assad. A US military
official said the strike was from a Russian warplane.
(AP, 12/7/15)(SFC, 12/8/15, p.A4)
2015 Dec 7, Syrian authorities
released 35 opposition detainees in Homs, ahead of a deal that will
lead to the departure of thousands of opposition fighters.
(AP, 12/7/15)

2015 Dec 8, Syria said it will
export more than 700,000 tons of citrus fruits to Russia to "fill
the gap" left by Moscow's ban on Turkish agricultural products.
(AFP, 12/8/15)
2015 Dec 8, Former British spy
chief Richard Barrett said Syria has become the pre-eminent global
incubator for a new generation of militants after Islamist groups
more than doubled their recruitment of foreign fighters to as much
as 31,000 over the past 18 months.
(Reuters, 12/8/15)
2015 Dec 8, Russia said that
recent air strikes against targets in Syria included the new Kalibre
cruise missile from its Rostov-on-Don submarine in the Mediterranean
Sea.
(SFC, 12/9/15, p.A4)
2015 Dec 8, The United Nations
called on Jordan to allow in 12,000 Syrian refugees stranded at the
border in deteriorating humanitarian conditions and offered to help
reinforce security at registration points.
(Reuters, 12/8/15)
2015 Dec 8, The United States
and its allies staged 26 air strikes against the Islamic State
militant group in Iraq and Syria.
(Reuters, 12/9/15)

2015 Dec 9, Syrian rebels began
evacuating the last opposition-held district in Homs, paving the way
for President Bashar al-Assad's regime to take full control of the
country's third-largest city.
(AFP, 12/9/15)
2015 Dec 9, Representatives
from Syria's fragmented opposition began an unprecedented meeting
hosted by Saudi Arabia, seeking a united front for potential talks
with President Bashar al-Assad's regime.
(AFP, 12/9/15)
2015 Dec 9, Russia said its air
force flew 82 sorties against 204 targets in Syria in the last 24
hours.
(Reuters, 12/9/15)
2015 Dec 9, The United States
and its allies conducted 23 strikes against Islamic State in Iraq
and Syria.
(Reuters, 12/10/15)

2015 Dec 10, In northern Syria
the Islamic State staged attacks in the predominantly Kurdish
province of Hassakeh targeting offices of the main Kurdish militia
known as YPG. At least 26 people were reported killed.
(AP, 12/11/15)
2015 Dec 10, In Saudi Arabia
opponents of Syria's President Bashar al-Assad agreed to bring
together political and armed factions in a single body in
preparation for possible peace talks with his government. Ahrar
al-Sham pulled out of opposition talks. The group had insisted the
priority should be overthrowing the regime, preserving Syria's unity
and rejecting sectarianism.
(Reuters, 12/10/15)(AFP, 12/10/15)
2015 Dec 10, A Turkish news
agency said authorities have begun constructing a wall along a 82-km
(50-mile) stretch of Turkey's border with Syria that is under the
control of the Islamic State group on the Syrian side.
(AP, 12/10/15)
2015 Dec 10, The first Canadian
government plane carrying Syrian refugees arrived in Toronto late
today where they were greeted by PM Justin Trudeau.
(AP, 12/11/15)
2015 Dec 10, The United States
and its allies staged 25 air strikes against the Islamic State
militant group in Iraq and Syria.
(Reuters, 12/11/15)

2015 Dec 11, President Vladimir
Putin said that Russia has provided air cover, weapons and supplies
to a leading Western-backed opposition group in Syria and called for
closer coordination with the US-allied coalition.
(AP, 12/11/15)
2015 Dec 11, The United States
and its allies targeted Islamic State with 12 strikes in Iraq and
five in Syria.
(Reuters, 12/12/15)

2015 Dec 12, In Syria a
powerful car bomb exploded near a hospital in the central city of
Homs, killing 16 people and wounding dozens. Most residents belong
to the same Alawite sect as Pres. Assad.
(AFP, 12/12/15)

2015 Dec 13, In Syria rebels
entrenched in an eastern suburb of Damascus fired volleys of mortar
shells into Damascus. 6 civilians died in rebel fire on
government-held areas in and near Damascus. At least 45 civilians
were killed in four Eastern Ghouta towns in air strikes and rocket
fire by pro-regime forces,
(AP, 12/13/15)(Reuters, 12/13/15)(AFP, 12/14/15)
2015 Dec 13, The United States
and its allies conducted 16 strikes against Islamic State in Iraq
and Syria.
(Reuters, 12/14/15)

2015 Dec 14, Syrian troops
recaptured Marj al-Sultan and its airport east of Damascus, more
than three years after they were overrun by rebel groups.
(AFP, 12/14/15)

2015 Dec 15, In northern Syria
airstrikes on a fuel market in a rebel-held village killed and
wounded dozens and destroyed several tanker trucks. Warplanes also
struck a market in Maskaneh killing at least 18 people.
(AP, 12/15/15)(SFC, 12/16/15, p.A2)
2015 Dec 15, The United States
and its allies staged a fresh round of air strikes against Islamic
State, with six in Syria and 11 in Iraq.
(Reuters, 12/16/15)

2015 Dec 16, Syrian government
forces captured the strategic Noba Mountain, inching closer to a
rebel-held stronghold in the coastal province of Latakia.
(AP, 12/16/15)
2015 Dec 16, Russia said its
air force made 59 sorties in Syria in the past 24 hours and hit 212
Islamic State targets in the Syrian provinces of Aleppo, Idlib,
Latakia, Hama, Homs, Khaseke and Raqqa.
(Reuters, 12/16/15)
2015 Dec 16, The United States
and its allies conducted 18 air strikes against Islamic State in
Iraq and Syria.
(Reuters, 12/17/15)

2015 Dec 17, The Syrian
opposition hosted by Saudi Arabia elected former PM Riad Hijab as a
coordinator of a body that is expected to lead future peace talks.
(Reuters, 12/17/15)
2015 Dec 17, Finance ministers
from the 15 UN Security Council nations adopted a plan aimed at
disrupting outside revenue that the Islamic State extremist group
gets from oil and antiquities sales, ransom payments and other
criminal activities.
(AP, 12/17/15)
2015 Dec 17, The United States
and its allies conducted 22 strikes against Islamic State in Iraq
and Syria.
(Reuters, 12/18/15)

2015 Dec 18, In NYC some 20
foreign ministers gathered for the latest conference on Syria's
civil war. The UN Security Council unanimously approved a resolution
endorsing an international road map for a Syria peace process, a
rare show of unity among major powers on a conflict that has claimed
more than a quarter million lives.
(AP, 12/18/15)(Reuters, 12/19/15)
2015 Dec 18, The United States
and its allies staged 20 strikes against Islamic State militants in
Iraq and Syria, including one near the Iraqi city of Fallujah that
is being investigated as a possible friendly fire incident.
(Reuters, 12/19/15)

2015 Dec 19, An Israeli air
strike killed Samir Qantar, a Hezbollah militant leader, in
Damascus. Kantar, a Lebanese who was convicted of carrying out one
of the most notorious attacks in Israeli history, had spent nearly
three decades in an Israeli prison.
(Reuters, 12/20/15)(AP, 12/20/15)

2015 Dec 20, The Syrian army
with the backing of Russian air power said it had seized the rebel
held town of Khan Touman in southern Aleppo. In northwest Syria air
strikes believed to have been carried out by Russian warplanes
killed 58 people in the center of the rebel-held city of Idlib. At
least 10 people were wounded in an explosion that hit a military bus
in the Mazzeh residential district of western Damascus.
(Reuters, 12/20/15)(AFP, 12/20/15)(AFP, 12/23/15)
2015 Dec 20, The United States
and its allies conducted 15 strikes against Islamic State in Iraq
and Syria.
(Reuters, 12/21/15)

2015 Dec 22, In Syria Islamic
State group jihadists killed 9 students when they shelled a school
in the eastern city of Deir Ezzor.
(AFP, 12/22/15)

2015 Dec 23, In Syria clashes
and suicide attacks by the Islamic State group killed at least 26
pro-government fighters in the eastern city of Deir Ezzor.
(AFP, 12/23/15)(AFP, 12/24/15)
2015 Dec 23, Russia's Defense
Ministry said its air force has carried out 302 sorties in Syria
between Dec. 18 and 23, hitting 1,093 Islamic State targets.
(Reuters, 12/23/15)
2015 Dec 23, The United States
and its allies conducted 18 air strikes against Islamic State in
Iraq and six in Syria.
(Reuters, 12/24/15)

2015 Dec 24, Syria's regime
said it was ready to take part in new talks in Geneva aimed at
ending the war but appeared to make its participation conditional on
which opposition groups will attend.
(AFP, 12/24/15)
2015 Dec 24, In Syria air raids
by government warplanes killed 20 civilians, including 7 children,
in an area southeast of Damascus. A US-backed alliance of Syrian
Kurds and Arab rebel groups advanced toward a dam in northern Syria
held by Islamic State fighters, in an assault aimed at capturing the
militants' stronghold of Raqqa.
(AFP, 12/24/15)(Reuters, 12/24/15)
2015 Dec 24, In Syria French
national Charaffe al Mouadan (26) was killed in a US-led coalition
air strike. He had "direct" ties to the alleged mastermind of the
Nov 13 Paris attacks.
(AFP, 12/29/15)
2015 Dec 24, The United States
and its allies conducted 31 strikes against Islamic State in Iraq
and Syria.
(Reuters, 12/25/15)

2015 Dec 25, Rebel sources in
Syria said Zahran Aloush (44), the head of Jaysh al Islam, one of
the most powerful insurgent groups in the rebel-held suburbs of
Damascus, was killed in a Russian aerial raid that targeted his
group's headquarters. Abu Hammam al Buwaidani was soon chosen as the
group’s new leader.
(Reuters, 12/25/15)
2015 Dec 25, In northern Syria
fierce clashes between regime loyalists and rebels including
Al-Qaeda fighters left more than 70 dead.
(AFP, 12/26/15)
2015 Dec 25, In Syria Islamic
State militants released 25 more Assyrian Christian hostages they
had held captive for 10 months.
(AP, 12/25/15)
2015 Dec 25, The United States
hit Islamic State group targets in Iraq and Syria with 17 airstrikes
on Christmas Day.
(AP, 12/26/15)

2015 Dec 26, Syrian government
forces booby trapped a cluster of farm buildings in the southern
Daraa province and detonated the explosives as several Islamic rebel
factions gathered at the venue, killing 17 militants.
(AP, 12/27/15)
2015 Dec 26, A US-backed
alliance of Syrian Kurds and Arab rebel groups, backed by US
coalition planes, captured Tishreen Dam from Islamic State.
(Reuters, 12/26/15)(AFP, 1/2/16)
2015 Dec 26, The United States
and its allies conducted 28 strikes against Islamic State in Iraq
and five in Syria.
(Reuters, 12/27/15)

2015 Dec 27, The United States
and its allies conducted 37 strikes against Islamic State in Iraq
and Syria.
(Reuters, 12/28/15)
2015 Dec 27, In Turkey Naji
Jerf, a Syrian journalist and filmmaker who documented atrocities by
the Islamic State, was killed in Gaziantep.
(SFC, 12/25/15, p.A2)

2015 Dec 28, In Syria at least
32 people were killed and 90 wounded in two bomb explosions in Homs.
It was the second major attack in the city since a ceasefire deal
took effect earlier this month. Homs-based activist Bebars Al-Talawy
later said Abu Bilal al-Homsi most likely carried out one of the
bombings.
(Reuters, 12/28/15)(AP, 1/1/16)
2015 Dec 28, In Syria buses and
ambulances carrying around 450 fighters and civilians evacuated from
two besieged areas crossed into Turkey and Lebanon.
(Reuters, 12/28/15)
2015 Dec 28, The United States
and its allies targeted Islamic State with 31 air strikes in their
latest daily operations against the militant group in Iraq and
Syria.
(Reuters, 12/29/15)

2015 Dec 29, The United States
and its allies staged 28 air strikes against Islamic State in Iraq
and Syria.
(Reuters, 12/30/15)

2015 Dec 30, Syrian authorities
arrested Ahmad al-Asrawi and Munir al-Bitar, prominent members of
the country's domestic opposition, as they traveled to Riyadh to
meet other regime opponents.
(AFP, 12/30/15)
2015 Dec 30, Syrian troops
fought their way into a rebel-held town in the southern province of
Deraa in an assault which rebels said was supported by the heaviest
Russian aerial bombing campaign so far in the south.
(Reuters, 12/30/15)
2015 Dec 30, In northeastern
Syria two restaurants were bombed in a predominantly Kurdish city of
Qamishli. The attack killed at least 16 people and wounded more than
30.
(AP, 12/31/15)
2015 Dec 30, Russia said its
air force made 121 sorties and hit 424 targets in Syria during
December 28-29.
(Reuters, 12/30/15)
2015 Dec 30, The US-led
coalition carried out 24 strikes against Islamic State militants, in
Iraq and Syria.
(Reuters, 12/31/15)

2015 Charles Glass authored
“Syria Burning: ISIS and the Death of the Arab Spring."
(Econ, 7/11/15, p.73)
2015 Leon Goldsmith authored
“Cycle of Fear: Syria’s Alawites in War and Peace."
(Econ, 7/11/15, p.74)
2015 Journalists Hassan Hassan
and Michael Weiss authored "ISIS: Inside the Army of Terror." The
authors spoke to dozens of fighters and members of the group to
understand its allure and how it justifies its brutal tactics.
(AFP, 2/5/15)
2015 William McCants authored
“"The ISIS Apocalypse: The History, Strategy, and Doomsday Vision of
the Islamic State."
(Econ, 9/26/15, p.86)
2015 In Jordan incoming Syrian
refugees now made up a fifth of the population.
(Econ, 7/4/15, p.40)

2016 Jan 2, In Syria 16
jihadists were reported killed and 19 wounded in clashes with Syrian
Democratic Forces (SDF) near Ain Issa.
(AFP, 1/2/16)
2016 Jan 2, The United States
and its allies conducted 26 strikes against Islamic State in Iraq
and Syria.
(Reuters, 1/3/16)

2016 Jan 3, The Islamic State
released a new video in which five purported British spies are shot
dead by masked extremists as propaganda from a group that is losing
control of territory in Syria and Iraq. Newspapers named Siddhartha
Dhar, a British Indian, as the speaker in the tape.
(AP, 1/4/16)(SFC, 1/4/16, p.A4)(Econ, 1/9/16,
p.50)

2016 Jan 5, Gunmen in Syria
shot and killed Abu Rateb al-Homsy, the commander of an
ultraconservative rebel group in the central Homs province.
(AP, 1/6/16)

2016 Jan 6, In Syria several
mortar rounds struck residential neighborhoods in the capital,
Damascus, killing at least 8 people and wounding at least two dozen
others. State media said "terrorists" from the Army of Islam rebel
group fired the shells from the suburb of Eastern Ghouta.
(AP, 1/6/16)
2016 Jan 6, In Syria Ali Saqr
(21) executed his mother near the post office building where she
worked in front of hundreds of people in Raqqa because she had
encouraged him to leave the Islamic State group.
(Reuters, 1/8/16)(SFC, 1/9/16, p.A2)
2016 Jan 6, The United States
and its allies staged 36 strikes against Islamic State in Iraq and
Syria.
(Reuters, 1/7/16)

2016 Jan 7, The US-led
coalition launched 23 air strikes against Islamic State in Iraq and
three in Syria.
(Reuters, 1/8/16)

2016 Jan 10, In Syria the Nusra
Front Al-Qaeda affiliate abducted Hadi al-Abdallah and Raed Fares,
two of the country's most prominent media activists from a radio
station in the northwestern Idlib province.
(AFP, 1/10/16)

2016 Jan 11, Syria's opposition
coordinator Riad Hijab accused Russia of killing dozens of children
after a bombing raid today and said such action meant the opposition
could not negotiate with President Bashar al-Assad's government. He
put the death toll at 35 children and said the Russian strikes had
hit three schools in total.
(AFP, 1/11/16)
2016 Jan 11, In Syria an aid
convoy entered the besieged town of Madaya. 40,000 people were
trapped by encircling government forces and local doctors said some
residents have starved to death.
(Reuters, 1/11/16)(Reuters, 1/12/16)

2016 Jan 11, The United States
and its allies conducted 23 strikes against Islamic State in Iraq
and Syria.
(Reuters, 1/12/16)

2016 Jan 12, Syrian state media
said the government’s army and allied forces has taken full control
of the rebel-held town of Salma, Latakia province.
(AFP, 1/12/16)

2016 Jan 14, In Syria a convoy
carrying desperately needed food and medicine entered the
hunger-stricken town of Madaya, the second delivery of aid this week
after months of government siege.
(AFP, 1/14/16)

2016 Jan 15, Turkey announced
that it is to grant work permits to Syrian refugees, in a key move
which could allow Syrians to build more prosperous and stable lives
in the country.
(AFP, 1/15/16)
2016 Jan 15, The UN children's
fund UNICEF confirmed cases of severe malnutrition among children in
the besieged Syrian town of Madaya, where local relief workers
reported 32 deaths of starvation in the past month.
(Reuters, 1/15/16)

2016 Jan 16, In Syria Islamic
State militants kidnapped at least 400 civilians when they attacked
government-held areas in the eastern city of Deir al-Zor. Air
strikes on the Islamic State group's bastion of Raqa killed 40
civilians, including 8 children. It was unclear if the strikes were
carried out by regime or Russian planes. The UN said it has
unverified reports that 15-20 people died of starvation in the
Syrian city of Deir Al-Zor in 2015, where 200,000 people face
sharply deteriorating conditions and a severe food shortage.
(Reuters, 1/16/16)(Reuters, 1/17/16)(AFP,
1/17/16)

2016 Jan 18, In Syria Islamic
State advanced against government forces near the city of Deir
al-Zor after attacking the towns of Ayyash and Begayliya. The
Britain-based Observatory said 120 members of the Syrian government
forces and 70 Islamic State fighters had been killed in clashes
since Jan 16.
(Reuters, 1/19/16)
2016 Jan 18, In Turkey at least
one person was killed and one more seriously wounded when a rocket
fired from a jihadist-controlled area in Syria slammed into a
schoolyard in the border town of Kilis.
(AFP, 1/18/16)
2016 Jan 18, The United States
and its allies staged two dozen strikes against the Islamic State
militant group in Syria and Iraq.
(Reuters, 1/19/16)

2016 Jan 19, Russia said its
air force has delivered more than 40 tons of humanitarian aid to
areas of Syria which are blocked by “terrorists."
(Reuters, 1/19/16)

2016 Jan 20, Syria's state-run
news agency and opposition activists said some 500 displaced
families have returned to their homes in a neighborhood on the
southwestern edge of Damascus. They had fled their homes fled in
2013-2014 battles.
(AP, 1/20/16)
2016 Jan 20, The US-led
coalition staged 16 strikes in Iraq and Syria targeting the against
Islamic State militant group.
(Reuters, 1/21/16)

2016 Jan 23, In eastern Syria
at least 29 civilians were killed in air strikes suspected to have
been carried by Russian warplanes in the village of Khasham, Deir
Ezzor province. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said at
least 63 people, including 9 children, died in the air strikes.
(AFP, 1/23/16)(Reuters, 1/24/16)

2016 Jan 24, Syrian
pro-government forces recaptured a key rebel-held town in coastal
Latakia province, building on battlefield advances in the area just
a day ahead of planned peace talks in Geneva between Damascus and
Syria's opposition.
(AFP, 1/24/16)
2016 Jan 24, The United States
and its allies staged 19 strikes against Islamic State in Iraq and
Syria in the coalition's latest round of daily attacks on the
militant group.
(Reuters, 1/25/16)

2016 Jan 25, The coalition of
the United States and its allies conducted 18 strikes against
Islamic State in Iraq and Syria.
(Reuters, 1/26/16)

2016 Jan 26, Syria's regime
seized a strategic southern town from rebel forces, as leading
opposition representatives debated whether to attend peace talks in
Geneva this week. A bomb attack claimed by Islamic State in the
Syrian government-controlled city of Homs killed at least 24 people.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitoring group put the
death toll at 29.
(AFP, 1/26/16)(Reuters, 1/26/16)

2016 Jan 27, In Syria suspected
Russian air strikes killed at least 54 civilians in rebel- and
jihadist-held areas in the eastern Deir Ezzor province and its
provincial capital of the same name.
(AFP, 1/28/16)

2016 Jan 29, The UN Syria envoy
Staffan de Mistura will meet a Syrian government delegation in
Geneva to kick off the first peace talks for almost two years and
will later meet other participants in the talks, his office said in
a statement.
(Reuters, 1/29/16)
2016 Jan 29, Human Rights Watch
said Iran's Revolutionary Guards has recruited thousands of Afghans,
some by coercion, to fight in Syria's war alongside forces loyal to
President Bashar al-Assad.
(AFP, 1/29/16)

2016 Jan 30, Doctors Without
Borders said 16 recent deaths have brought the number of people
reported to have died of starvation in Madaya, Syria, to 46 since
December.
(AFP, 1/30/16)

2016 Jan 30, A delegation from
Syria's main opposition group arrived in Geneva to join UN-mediated
peace talks, demanding President Bashar al-Assad's government be
made to comply with a UN resolution on humanitarian aid and human
rights.
(Reuters, 1/30/16)
2016 Jan 30, In Syria suspected
Russian air strikes killed at least 10 civilians in a village held
by the Islamic State group in the eastern province of Deir Ezzor.
(AFP, 1/30/16)

2016 Jan 31, In Syria at least
70 people were killed and scores wounded when a car bomb and two
suicide bombers blew them themselves up in the Sayeda Zeinab
district of Damascus, where Syria's holiest Shi'ite shrine is
located.
(Reuters, 1/31/16)(Reuters, 2/1/16)

2016 Feb 1, Syrian peace talks
gained a small measure of momentum with the UN special envoy
formally declaring the start of indirect negotiations, even as the
opposition spokesman accused Russia of producing a "new Hitler" in
Moscow and supporting another Hitler in Damascus.
(AP, 2/1/16)
2016 Feb 1, Russia's Defense
Ministry said its air force has carried out 468 sorties in Syria
over the past week, hitting more than 1,300 "terrorist" targets.
(Reuters, 2/1/16)

2016 Feb 2, Syrian Democratic
Forces (SDF), an alliance of Kurdish and Arab fighters under the
umbrella of the PYD, the main Syrian Kurdish force, severed the
corridor between Aleppo and the Turkish border critical for rebel
supplies, in tacit alliance with the Assad regime.
(Econ, 2/20/16, p.39)

2016 Feb 3, The Syrian army cut
the last supply route linking opposition forces in the northern city
of Aleppo to the Turkish border, as Russia vowed no let-up in its
aerial bombardment in support of the regime.
(AFP, 2/3/16)
2016 Feb 3, Lebanon said its
army killed six gunmen and arrested 16 suspected militants,
including a commander from the Islamic State group, in a raid in the
town of Arsal near the border with Syria.
(Reuters, 2/3/16)

2016 Feb 4, A US defense
official said Libya has seen an influx of Islamic State extremists
in recent months, while the number of jihadists in Iraq and Syria
has dropped by several thousand.
(AFP, 2/4/16)
2016 Feb 4, Donor nations
meeting in London pledged to give billions of dollars in aid to
Syrians as world leaders gathered for a conference to tackle the
world's worst humanitarian crisis. The British government announced
£1.2 billion (1.6 million euros, $1.74 billion) in aid for war-torn
Syria and its neighbours.
(Reuters, 2/4/16)(AFP, 2/4/16)
2016 Feb 4, Turkish PM Ahmet
Davutoglu said tens of thousands of Syrians are moving toward the
Turkish border from the Syrian city of Aleppo due to increased
aerial bombardment.
(Reuters, 2/4/16)
2016 Feb 4, A UN envoy halted
his attempts to conduct Syrian peace talks after the army, backed by
Russian air strikes, advanced against rebel forces north of Aleppo,
choking opposition supply lines from Turkey to the city.
(Reuters, 2/4/16)

2016 Feb 5, In Syria
pro-government troops retook another northern community as part of a
weeklong offensive aimed at encircling the country's largest city,
Aleppo. The capture was backed by shelling and airstrikes, including
by Russian warplanes. Tens of thousands were apparently streaming
towards Turkey as regime troops pressed a major Russian-backed
offensive around Aleppo.
(AP, 2/5/16)(AFP, 2/5/16)
2016 Feb 5, Iranian mdia said a
high-ranking member of the elite Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC)
and 6 Iranian Basij militia volunteers have been killed in fighting
in Syria’s northern Aleppo province.
(Reuters, 2/5/16)
2016 Feb 5, A UN report said
thirty-four militant groups from around the world had reportedly
pledged allegiance to the Islamic State extremist group as of
mid-December — and that number will only grow in 2016.
(AP, 2/5/16)

2016 Feb 7, Aid trucks and
ambulances entered Syria from Turkey to deliver food and supplies to
tens of thousands of people fleeing an escalating government assault
on Aleppo, as air strikes targeted villages on the road north to the
Turkish border. 45 pro-regime fighters killed by gunfire and another
31 killed when landmines were detonated during clashes near
Damascus.
(Reuters, 2/7/16)(AP, 2/13/16)
2016 Feb 7, A top official in
the United Arab Emirates said that his country is prepared to send
ground troops to Syria to fight Islamic State militants as part of
an international coalition.
(AP, 2/7/16)
2016 Feb 7, The United States
and its allies conducted ten strikes against Islamic State militants
in Iraq and Syria.
(Reuters, 2/8/16)

2016 Feb 8, Syrian army troops
recaptured a new village north of Aleppo, bringing troops and allied
militiamen to within a few kilometers of the Turkish border as part
of a major Russian-backed offensive in the area.
(AP, 2/8/16)
2016 Feb 8, Canada announced it
will end air strikes targeting the Islamic State group in Iraq and
Syria and bring home its six fighter jets on February 22.
(AFP, 2/8/16)

2016 Feb 9, In Syria a suicide
car bomber blew himself up at a police officers' club in a
residential district of Damascus, killing at least 10 people and
causing wide material damage.
(AP, 2/9/16)

2016 Feb 10, The Syrian
Observatory for Human Rights said at least 500 people have been
killed on all sides during fighting in Aleppo province since the
start of a Syrian army and allied forces offensive began in early
February.
(Reuters, 2/10/16)
2016 Feb 10, In northern Syria
Kurdish fighters backed by Russian airstrikes launched an attack in
an attempt to capture a military air base held by Syrian insurgents.
An international aid group warned that the health system is close to
collapse in parts of northern Syria.
(AP, 2/10/16)

2016 Feb 11, In Syria
Kurdish-led fighters aided by Russian bombing captured the
rebel-held Menagh military airport near the border with Turkey.
Russian warplanes staged at least 30 raids against the rebels
holding out there.
(Reuters, 2/11/16)
2016 Feb 11, The Syrian Center
for Policy Research (SCPR) estimated that the death toll in the
current Syrian civil war has reached 470,000.
(Econ, 2/20/16, p.41)
2016 Feb 11, Russia's Defense
Ministry said that two US aircraft had bombed the Syrian city of
Aleppo on Feb. 10, and that Russian planes had not been operating in
the area.
(Reuters, 2/11/16)

2016 Feb 12, Meeting in Germany
major powers agreed to a cessation of hostilities in Syria set to
begin in a week and to provide rapid humanitarian access to besieged
Syrian towns, but failed to secure a complete ceasefire or an end to
Russian bombing.
(Reuters, 2/12/16)
2016 Feb 12, A Turkish deputy
prime minister said up to 40,000 refugees have settled in camps on
the Turkish border inside Syria in the latest wave of migration.
(Reuters, 2/12/16)

2016 Feb 14, The Syrian Kurdish
PYD party rejected Turkish demands that allied militia withdraw from
positions near the border that are being shelled by Turkish army.
(Reuters, 2/14/16)
2016 Feb 14, Russia said
President Vladimir Putin and US President Barack Obama agreed to
intensify diplomatic and other cooperation to implement an agreement
on Syria struck at talks in Munich.
(Reuters, 2/14/16)
2016 Feb 14, The Turkish army
shelled positions held by Kurdish-backed militia in northern Syria
for a second day, killing two fighters.
(Reuters, 2/14/16)

2016 Feb 15, In Syria almost 50
civilians were killed when missiles hit at least five medical
facilities and two schools in rebel-held areas. At least 14 people
were killed on in the northern Syrian town of Azaz. French charity
Doctors Without Borders said in a statement that at least eight
staff were missing after four rockets hit a hospital that it
supported in the province of Idlib.
(Reuters, 2/15/16)(Reuters, 2/15/16)
2016 Feb 15, Turkish security
forces hit Kurdish militia targets in Syria for the third day in a
row after a border security outpost on the border was attacked this
morning.
(Reuters, 2/15/16)

2016 Feb 16, In Syria 15
civilians were killed in US-led strikes on the town of Al-Shadadi.
(AFP, 2/18/16)

2016 Feb 17, In Syria 8
civilians, including one woman, were killed in US-led strikes on
another IS-controlled village in in Hasakeh province. Strikes
elsewhere in the province also killed 26 IS fighters.
(AFP, 2/18/16)
2016 Feb 17, Nine Kurdish
soldiers were admitted with symptoms including vomiting, nausea,
shortness of breath and itching. It wasbelieved that Islamic State
militants fired mortar shells believed to have been filled with a
chemical substance, possibly chlorine, at Kurdish troops close to
the Iraqi town of Sinjar.
(AP, 2/18/16)
2016 Feb 17, The United States
and its allies conducted 19 air strikes against Islamic State in
Iraq and Syria.
(Reuters, 2/18/16)

2016 Feb 18, EU leaders began
meeting to thrash out a deal that aims to keep Britain in the bloc.
(AP, 2/18/16)
2016 Feb 18, In India a protest
that rocked a New Delhi university this week spread across the
country, with students and teachers in at least 10 cities demanding
the release of student leader Kanhaiya Kumar arrested on sedition
charges and accused of being anti-Indian.
(AP, 2/18/16)
2016 Feb 18, An Iraqi militia
group said the government has decided to cut the number of
state-financed paramilitary forces due to a shortage of funds as the
international oil price declines.
(AP, 2/18/16)
2016 Feb 18, Japan-based Toyota
said it is recalling nearly 2.9 million sports utility vehicles,
including more than 1.1 million in the US, because of seat belts
that might fail in a crash.
(AP, 2/18/16)
2016 Feb 18, The Syrian army
backed by heavy Russian aerial bombing said it had captured the town
of Kansaba in the northern countryside of the coastal province of
Latakia.
(Reuters, 2/18/16)
2016 Feb 18, In northeastern
Syria strikes by a US-led coalition against the Islamic State group
killed at least 15 civilians, including 3 children. 9 IS fighters
were also killed in the strikes on the four villages in Hasakeh
province.
(AFP, 2/18/16)
2016 Feb 18, Ugandans began
voting in a presidential election that pits President Yoweri
Museveni (71), in power for three decades, against a long-time rival
Kizza Besigye.
(Reuters, 2/18/16)

2016 Feb 19, A task force set
up to discuss a planned cessation of hostilities in Syria met for
the first time in Geneva. Western powers rejected a Russian bid at
the UN to halt Turkey's military actions in Syria, as France warned
of a dangerous escalation in the nearly five-year conflict.
(Reuters, 2/19/16)(AFP, 2/19/16)
2016 Feb 19, The United States
and its allies targeted Islamic State militants in Iraq with 16
strikes and nine in Syria.
(AFP, 2/20/16)

2016 Feb 20, Syria's army and
allies, backed by Russian air strikes, recaptured 18 villages from
Islamic State fighters in eastern Aleppo province.
(Reuters, 2/20/16)
2016 Feb 20, A source close to
peace talks said Syria's opposition has agreed to a two- to
three-week truce on condition that Russia stops its air strikes,
sieges are ended and access for aid allowed across the country.
President Bashar al-Assad said he was ready for a ceasefire, on
condition "terrorists" did not use a lull in fighting to their
advantage and that countries backing insurgents halted support for
them.
(Reuters, 2/20/16)(Reuters, 2/21/16)

2016 Feb 21, In Syria a string
of suicide bombings near a Shiite shrine outside Dmascus and in Homs
claimed by jihadists killed more than 150 people.
(AFP, 2/21/16)

2016 Feb 22, In Syria the
Islamic State group and other jihadists cut a vital supply route
linking the west of Syria's second city Aleppo with other
government-held territory.
(AFP, 2/22/16)
2016 Feb 22, Syria's main
opposition umbrella group was meeting in the Saudi capital as
Washington and Moscow worked to secure a ceasefire..
(AFP, 2/22/16)
2016 Feb 22, A Christian
official in northeastern Syria said the Islamic State group has
released the last group of Assyrian Christians taken hostage last
year. The 43 freed Christians were part of about 230 Assyrian
Christians captured last February by the extremists after they
overran Assyrian communities on the southern bank of the Khabur
River in northeastern Hassakeh province.
(AP, 2/22/16)

2016 Feb 23, The Syrian
government said it accepted a halt to "combat operations" that does
not include the Islamic State group, the al Qaeda-linked Nusra
Front, or groups connected to it, in line with a US-Russian plan.
(Reuters, 2/23/16)
2016 Feb 23, Britain said it
had seen disturbing evidence that Syrian Kurds were coordinating
with the Syrian government of President Bashar al-Assad and the
Russian air force.
(Reuters, 2/23/16)

2016 Feb 24, The United States
and its allies said they have conducted 18 strikes against Islamic
State in Iraq and Syria over the last 24 hours.
(Reuters, 2/24/16)

2016 Feb 25, Syrian government
troops backed by Russian airstrikes recaptured a town in Aleppo
province from Islamic State militants in a key advance just two days
ahead of a US and Russia-engineered cease-fire.
(AP, 2/25/16)

2016 Feb 26, Russian warplanes
carried out intense air strikes on rebel strongholds in Syria hours
before a ceasefire was due to come into force.
(AFP, 2/26/16)

2016 Feb 27, Fighting mostly
stopped across western and northern Syria and Russia halted its air
raids, under a cessation of hostilities which the United Nations
called the best hope for peace since civil war began five years ago.
The Syrian rebel group Jaish al-Islam said government forces dropped
two barrel bombs and opened fire on its positions during several
violations of a cessation of hostilities agreement in the Eastern
Ghouta near Damascus. At least two people were killed and several
wounded when a car bomb exploded at the entrance of Salamiya, Hama
province.
(Reuters, 2/27/16)
2016 Feb 27, Islamic State
fighters attacked the town of Tel Abyad controlled by the Syrian
Kurdish YPG militia at the Turkish border as well as the nearby town
of Suluk. The attack was crushed and dozens of Islamic State
fighters were reported killed.
(Reuters, 2/27/16)

2016 Feb 28, Syria's main
opposition grouping said it recorded 15 violations by government
troops and allied forces on the first day of a landmark truce.
(AFP, 2/28/16)
2016 Feb 28, Russian news media
reported that the Russian coordination center in Syria has
registered nine violations of a cessation of hostilities in the past
24 hours, but that the cessation of hostilities was holding in
general.
(Reuters, 2/28/16)
2016 Feb 28, The United States
and its allies conducted 24 strikes against Islamic State in Iraq
and Syria.
(Reuters, 2/29/16)

2016 Feb 29, A senior official
from Syria's main opposition group said that a fragile international
attempt to halt nearly five years of fighting was in danger of total
collapse because of attacks by government forces. UN
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said the shaky cease-fire is holding
"by and large" on its third day despite sporadic fighting and
growing accusations of violations.
(AP, 2/29/16)
2016 Feb 29, Turkish armed
forces shelled positions of the Islamic State (IS) group in Syria in
coordination with the US-led international anti-jihadist coalition.
(AFP, 2/29/16)

2016 Feb 29, The US-led
coalition conducted 27 strikes against Islamic State in Iraq and
Syria in its latest round of daily attacks.
(Reuters, 3/1/16)

2016 Mar 1, Russia called for
the Syrian-Turkish border to be closed, saying arms were being
hidden in humanitarian aid convoys and channeled to fighters of
Islamic State and its allies.
(Reuters, 3/1/16)
2016 Mar 1, The United States
and its allies staged 21 strikes against Islamic State in Iraq and
Syria.
(Reuters, 3/2/16)

2016 Mar 2, In Syria a
Kurdish-led fighting alliance captured a hill overlooking a main
road in Aleppo from the militant Nusra Front group and its allies.
In southern Syria a car bomb targeted a meeting of commanders of a
US-backed moderate rebel group, killing 18, including the faction's
top commander.
(AP, 3/2/16)
2016 Mar 2, The US and its
allies in Iraq and Syria staged 29 strikes against Islamic State.
(Reuters, 3/3/16)

2016 Mar 3, Russia's Defense
Ministry said in a statement it had registered 14 ceasefire
violations in Syria over the past 24 hours.
(Reuters, 3/3/16)
2016 Mar 3, The United States
and its allies conducted 14 strikes against Islamic State in Iraq
and Syria.
(Reuters, 3/4/16)

2016 Mar 4, In Syria
demonstrators in opposition-held areas of Aleppo, Damascus, Daraa
and Homs called for the downfall of President Bashar al-Assad's
regime.
(AFP, 3/4/16)
2016 Mar 4, Major Syrian
insurgent group Jaish al-Islam group said the government was
mobilizing forces to capture more territory, and a ceasefire was not
possible while Damascus and its allies kept up attacks, signaling
risks to an agreement that has slowed fighting. Jaish al-Islam
denied Russian reports that some of its members had signed ceasefire
agreements.
(Reuters, 3/4/16)
2016 Mar 4, In Syria two air
strikes hit the edge of the town of Douma in Eastern Ghouta and one
person was killed. The strikes were reportedly conducted by either
Syrian or Russian planes. US-backed fighters from the Free Syrian
Army's Southern Front killed one IS fighter and wounded several
others in the process of taking the Tanaf border crossing late
today.
(AFP, 3/4/16)(AP, 3/5/16)
2016 Mar 4, Russia's Defense
Ministry said Turkey is shelling Kurdish units fighting against the
Nusra Front in Syria, while columns of trucks with various cargo and
weapons for rebels cross into Syria from Turkey daily.
(Reuters, 3/4/16)
2016 Mar 4, The United States
and its allies targeted Islamic State militants in Iraq with 12
strikes and two in Syria. Abu Omar al-Shishani (b.1986), also known
as Omar the Chechen and described by the Pentagon as the group's
"minister of war", was targeted near the town of al-Shadadi in
Syria. Al-Shishani was critically wounded and reportedly died on
March 14. The IS confirmed his death on July 13.
(Reuters, 3/5/16)(AFP, 3/13/16)(SFC, 3/16/16,
p.A2)(Reuters, 7/14/16)

2016 Mar 5, The Syrian
Observatory for Human Rights said a total of 135 people were killed
in the first week of a fragile truce in Syria in areas covered by
the cessation of hostilities agreement.
(Reuters, 3/5/16)
2016 Mar 5, Russia's Defense
Ministry said it had registered nine ceasefire violations in Syria
over the past 24 hours.
(Reuters, 3/5/16)
2016 Mar 5, The United States
and its allies conducted 19 strikes against Islamic State in Iraq
and Syria.
(Reuters, 3/6/16)

2016 Mar 6, The United States
and its allies conducted 18 strikes against Islamic State in Iraq
and Syria.
(Reuters, 3/7/16)

2016 Mar 7, In northern Syria
warplanes bombed a fuel depot in an opposition-held town in Idlib
province, killing at least 12 people. The al Qaeda-affiliated Nusra
Front and Islamist group Jund al-Aqsa and others took the village of
al-Ais.
(AP, 3/7/16)(Reuters, 3/8/16)
2016 Mar 7, An official in YPG,
the Syrian Kurdish militia, said that Turkey was firing artillery
shells at its fighters in northern Aleppo province.
(Reuters, 3/7/16)
2016 Mar 7, Russia's Defense
Ministry said that eight ceasefire violations had been registered in
Syria over the past 24 hours.
(Reuters, 3/7/16)

2016 Mar 10, It was reported
that Abu Hamed, a disillusioned former member of Islamic State, has
passed a stolen memory stick of documents identifying 22,000
supporters in over 50 countries to a British journalist, a leak that
could help the West target Islamist fighters planning attacks.
(Reuters, 3/10/16)

2016 Mar 12, The Syrian
government ruled out any discussion of presidential elections at
peace talks due to start next week.
(Reuters, 3/12/16)
2016 Mar 12, In western Syria
rebels shot down a Syrian government warplane, although there were
conflicting accounts on whether it had been brought down by a
missile or anti-aircraft guns.
(Reuters, 3/12/16)
2016 Mar 12, The United States
and its allies carried out more than a dozen air strikes on Islamic
State forces in Iraq and Syria.
(Reuters, 3/13/16)

2016 Mar 13, In northern Syria
Al-Qaeda militants swept through the rebel-held town of Maarat Numan
in a display of dominance, arresting US-backed fighters and looting
weapons stores belonging to the Free Syrian Army. 7 FSA Division 13
fighters died in the clashes.
(AP, 3/13/16)

2016 Mar 14, Russia's defense
ministry said it had recorded 14 ceasefire violations in Syria in
the past 24 hours.
(Reuters, 3/14/16)
2016 Mar 14, In Switzerland UN
mediator Staffan de Mistura opened talks to end a five-year war in
Syria. The first of three rounds of talks aimed to agree a "clear
roadmap" for Syria fail to make progress. Syria's government
submitted an document entitled "Basic Elements for a Political
Solution" to the UN mediator in Geneva.
(Reuters, 3/14/16)

2016 Mar 15, Russian warplanes
began leaving Syria as Moscow started to draw down forces that have
tipped the war President Bashar al-Assad's way. Russian Deputy
Defense Minister Nikolai Pankov said the air force will continue
striking targets in Syria linked to Islamic State and other
terrorist groups despite a partial withdrawal.
(Reuters, 3/15/16)
2016 Mar 15, The United States
and its allies carried out 11 air strikes against Islamic State in
Iraq and Syria.
(Reuters, 3/16/16)

2016 Mar 16, A powerful Syrian
Kurdish political party announced plans to declare a federal region
in northern Syria, a model it hopes can be applied to the entire
country.
(AP, 3/16/16)
2016 Mar 16, Denmark's TV2
broadcaster opened an office in the Syrian capital, Damascus,
claiming to be the only western media to do so.
(AP, 3/16/16)
2016 Mar 16, A second group of
Russian warplanes flew out of Syria in line with Moscow's decision
to withdraw most of its forces.
(AFP, 3/16/16)

2016 Mar 17, Syria's three
Kurdish-controlled autonomous regions voted to approve the
establishment of a federal system in the north of the country,
defying warnings from Damascus and neighboring Turkey against any
such unilateral move.
(Reuters, 3/17/16)
2016 Mar 17, The United States
declared that the Islamic State group's slaughter of Christians,
Yazidis and Shiites amounts to a genocide and vowed to halt it.
(AFP, 3/17/16)
2016 Mar 17, The United States
and its allies conducted 20 strikes against Islamic State militants
in Iraq and Syria.
(Reuters, 3/18/16)

2016 Mar 18, In Syria Russian
warplanes flew in support of government troops in an offensive to
recapture the historic town of Palmyra from the hands of the Islamic
State group. 16 civilians were killed in air strikes on Raqa, the
main stronghold of the Islamic State jihadist group.
(AP, 3/18/16)(AFP, 3/19/16)
2016 Mar 18, The UN World Food
Program said some Syrians in the besieged areas of Daraya and Deir
al-Zor have been reduced to eating grass because food supplies are
cut off.
(Reuters, 3/18/16)

2016 Mar 19, In northern Syria
at least 39 civilians were killed in a series of air strikes on
Raqqa as Damascus and Moscow waged attacks on areas controlled by
Islamic State. The death toll soon climbed to at least 55.
(Reuters, 3/19/16)(AFP, 3/19/16)(AP, 3/20/16)

2016 Mar 20, The Russian
Defense Ministry recorded five violations of a tentative ceasefire
agreement in Syria in the last 24 hours.
(Reuters, 3/20/16)
2016 Mar 20, The United States
and its allies carried out 11 strikes against Islamic State
militants in Iraq and Syria.
(Reuters, 3/21/16)

2016 Mar 21, The United States
and its allies conducted 15 strikes against Islamic State militants
in Iraq and Syria.
(Reuters, 3/22/16)

2016 Mar 23, Syrian soldiers
and their allies advanced to within 1 km (half a mile) of Palmyra
and soldiers speaking from the outskirts of the historic city said
they hoped to recapture it from Islamic State fighters within hours.
(Reuters, 3/23/16)

2016 Mar 24, Syrian troops
backed by Russian warplanes advanced into the ancient city of
Palmyra, which has been under jihadist control for nearly a year. A
Russian special forces officer was killed in the combat operation.
(AFP, 3/24/16)(Reuters, 3/25/16)

2016 Mar 25, Syrian government
forces recaptured a Mamluk-era citadel in Palmyra from the extremist
Islamic State group, as the fierce battle for control of the
historic town entered its third day.
(AP, 3/25/16)
2016 Mar 25, News reports said
that Abd ar-Rahman Mustafa al-Qaduli (aka Haji Imam), the Islamic
State group's second in command, was killed earlier this month. US
Defense Secretary Ash Carter said US forces killed Haji Imam, a
senior Islamic State leader described as the group's finance
minister, among several key members of the militant group eliminated
this week.
(AFP, 3/25/16)(AP, 3/25/16)
2016 Mar 25, The United States
and its allies targeted Islamic State militants in Iraq with 22
strikes and four in Syria.
(Reuters, 3/26/16)

2016 Mar 27, Syrian troops
recaptured the ancient city of Palmyra from the Islamic State group
and pledged to build on the win with an advance against other
jihadist strongholds.
(AFP, 3/27/16)

2016 Mar 28, Syrian government
forces backed by Russian air strikes battled Islamic State
insurgents around Palmyra, trying to extend their gains after taking
back control of a city whose ancient temples were dynamited by the
ultra-radical militants.
(Reuters, 3/28/16)
2016 Mar 28, The presidents of
Russia and Iran agreed to step up bilateral contacts, including over
the Syrian conflict, in which both countries are allies of President
Bashar al-Assad.
(Reuters, 3/28/16)

2016 Mar 30, Syria’s President
Bashar al-Assad said that any transitional government should include
both the regime and opposition, as UN chief Ban Ki-moon urged
greater efforts to tackle the country's refugee crisis.
(AFP, 3/30/16)
2016 Mar 30, In Syria
airstrikes hit near a school and a hospital east of Damascus killing
at least 23 people. A drone strike, likely by the coalition, killed
Abu al-Haija, a Tunisian commander summoned by IS leader Abu Bakr
al-Baghdadi from Iraq.
(AP, 3/31/16)(AP, 4/3/16)

2016 Mar 31, Syrian President
Bashar al-Assad told Russia's RIA news agency that the army of
Turkish Pres. Erdogan is fighting in Syria. RIA also reported that
Assad said he was ready to hold early presidential elections if the
Syrian people wanted it.
(Reuters, 3/31/16)
2016 Mar 31, Syria, airstrikes
in the Deir al-Asafir district southeast of Damascus killed 33
people, mostly women and children.
(Reuters, 4/1/16)
2016 Mar 31, The United States
and its allies staged 17 strikes against Islamic State in their
latest round of daily attacks in Iraq and Syria against the militant
group.
(Reuters, 4/1/16)

2016 Mar, Abu Hayjaa Al-Tunsi,
a "Tunisian jihadi" and a senior commander with the Daesh group was
targeted by a drone missile when driving through northern Syria in
order to lead terrorists in the fighting there. His death led to
Daesh executing dozens of its own terrorist in search of informants.
(http://en.alalam.ir/news/1825651)(SFC, 6/6/16,
p.A4)

2016 Apr 1, Syrian state news
said troops have identified 45 bodies so far in a mass grave found
in the city of Palmyra after it was recaptured from Islamic State.
(Reuters, 4/2/16)
2016 Apr 1, The Syrian
government released freelance photographer Patrick Dawes (33), who
was captured in 2012.
(SFC, 4/9/16, p.A2)

2016 Apr 2, Syria's partial
cease-fire was unravelling, as fierce fighting between government
forces and opposition fighters, including members of the al-Qaida
affiliated Nusra Front, erupted outside the country's second largest
city of Aleppo. At least 25 pro-government fighters died in clashes
south of Aleppo, where the Nusra Front and rebel militias captured a
hill overlooking a major highway.
(AP, 4/2/16)

2016 Apr 3, The Syrian
Observatory for Human Rights said the Islamic State has killed 15 of
its members in the largest execution of the militant group's
security services so far in Syria. The killings followed the arrest
a day earlier of 35 members in Raqqa. The members were killed in
connection with the assassination of senior Islamic State figure Abu
Hija al-Tunisi, who died in an air strike on March 30.
(Reuters, 4/3/16)
2016 Apr 3, In Syria several
Al-Qaeda-linked Al-Nusra Front members including its spokesman were
killed in US-led coalition air strikes. Abu Firas al-Suri (aka
Radwan Nammous), his son and at least 20 jihadists of Al-Nusra and
Jund al-Aqsa and other fighters from Uzbekistan were killed in
strikes on positions in Idlib province.
(AFP, 4/4/16)(Reuters, 4/6/16)
2016 Apr 3, The United States
and its allies conducted two dozen strikes against Islamic State in
Iraq and Syria.
(Reuters, 4/4/16)

2016 Apr 4, Syrian troops and
allied militiamen pressed on with an offensive against Islamic State
militants in central Syria, clashing with the extremists around the
town of Qaryatain a day after it was captured by pro-government
forces.
(AP, 4/4/16)
2016 Apr 4, Syria’s state news
agency SANA said the Islamic State group has mounted a deadly gas
attack against Syrian troops at a besieged eastern airbase, the
latest report of the jihadists' use of chemical weapons.
(AFP, 4/5/16)
2016 Apr 4, An Iranian military
official said Iran has sent commandos to Syria as advisers,
suggesting it is using its army as well as paramilitary forces to
help President Bashar al-Assad's forces in the country's civil war.
(Reuters, 4/4/16)
2016 Apr 4, The United States
and its allies conducted 25 strikes against Islamic State in Iraq
and Syria, focusing on rebel forces near towns that guard the
approach to the key Iraqi city of Mosul.
(Reuters, 4/5/16)

2016 Apr 5, Syrian insurgents
shot down a government warplane in the north of the country and
shelled a predominantly Kurdish neighborhood in the city of Aleppo.
A pregnant woman and three children were among 18 civilians killed
when Syrian rebels shelled a Kurdish neighborhood in Aleppo.
(AP, 4/5/16)(AFP, 4/6/16)
2016 Apr 5, In Syria Rifai
Ahmad Taha, a senior Egyptian al-Qaida figure, was killed along with
several others in a US drone strike. Before joining al-Qaida, Taha
was a top figure in Egypt's notorious militant group Gamaa Islamiya,
which massacred 58 foreign tourists in the ancient Egyptian city of
Luxor in 1997.
(AP, 4/8/16)
2016 Apr 5, The United States
and its allies conducted 23 strikes against Islamic State in Syria
and Iraq.
(Reuters, 4/6/16)

2016 Apr 6, The Syrian army and
its allies launched a major attack on insurgents south of Aleppo,
described as the fiercest government assault in the area since an
agreement to ease the fighting came into effect in February. Islamic
State fighters launched attacks on government-held areas near
Damascus overnight.
(Reuters, 4/6/16)
2016 Apr 6, It was reported
that the Panama Papers revealed that Syria’s regime has avoided
int’l. sanctions and funded its war effort through three shadowy
companies in the Seychelles.
(SSFC, 4/10/16, p.A7)
2016 Apr 6, The United States
and its allies conducted 27 strikes against Islamic State in Iraq
and Syria.
(Reuters, 4/7/16)

2016 Apr 7, Syrian state
television reported that Islamic State fighters have kidnapped 300
cement workers in an area northeast of Damascus where the militants
launched an assault against government forces this week.
(Reuters, 4/7/16)
2016 Apr 7, The United States
and its allies conducted 26 strikes against Islamic State in Iraq
and Syria.
(Reuters, 4/8/16)

2016 Apr 9, A Syrian opposition
monitoring group said the Islamic State group has released most of
the 300 cement workers it abducted near Damascus after questioning
them to find out who were Muslims and killing 4 who were members of
the minority Druze sect. The fate of 30 people who were guards at
the factory was unknown.
(AP, 4/9/16)
2016 Apr 9, The US Air Force
deployed B-52 bombers to Qatar to join the fight against Islamic
State in Iraq and Syria, the first time they have been based in the
Middle East since the end of the Gulf War in 1991.
(Reuters, 4/9/16)

2016 Apr 10, Syrian government
forces and rebels clashed across the country's north in the latest
indication that a monthlong cease-fire may be breaking down, as the
Islamic State group seized two villages along the Turkish border
from other insurgents. Clashes around Aleppo killed at least 16
pro-regime fighters and 19 members of Al-Qaeda's affiliate and
allied rebel groups over the last 24-hours.
(AP, 4/10/16)(AFP, 4/10/16)

2016 Apr 11, In Syria Islamic
State fighters retook the northern town of al-Rai along the border
with Turkey from rebels and government forces and rebels clashed
across northern and western Syria.
(AP, 4/11/16)
2016 Apr 11, Iran’s Tasnim news
agency reported that 4 soldiers in its regular army were killed in
Syria, the, only a week after Tehran announced the deployment of
army commandos to help President Bashar al-Assad in the civil war
there.
(Reuters, 4/11/16)
2016 Apr 11, The United States
and its allies stages 13 strikes against Islamic State in Iraq and
Syria.
(Reuters, 4/12/16)

2016 Apr 12, Syrian troops and
their allies launched an offensive to retake an important hilltop
village south of the city of Aleppo from militants, including
al-Qaida's local affiliate, as President Bashar Assad's government
prepared for parliamentary elections the following day.
(AP, 4/12/16)
2016 Apr 12, The Turkish army
hit Islamic State targets in northern Syria, in response to
cross-border rocket fire that struck a border town in southeastern
Turkey for the second day in a row.
(Reuters, 4/12/16)
2016 Apr 12, Syrian journalist
Mohammed Zahir al-Sherqat died from wounds after being shot April 10
in the Turkish city of Gaziantep. The shooting attack was claimed by
the Islamic State.
(SFC, 4/13/16, p.A2)

2016 Apr 13, Syrians in
government-controlled areas cast ballots for a new 250-member
parliament. Western leaders and members of Syria's opposition have
denounced the vote as a sham and a provocation that undermines the
Geneva peace talks. Syria's ruling Baath party and its allies won a
majority of seats in parliamentary elections across government-held
parts of the country.
(AP, 4/13/16)(AFP, 4/17/16)
2016 Apr 13, Turkey's armed
forces launched new artillery strikes on jihadist positions in
Syria, after three days of deadly fire on a Turkish border town that
has left residents on edge.
(AFP, 4/13/16)
2016 Apr 13, The U.S.-led
coalition staged 21 strikes against the Islamic State militant
group, according to the coalition leading the operations in Iraq and
Syria.
(Reuters, 4/14/16)

2016 Apr 14, Syria's army
backed by Russian warplanes launched an assault north of Aleppo,
threatening to block a vital rebel route into the city in fighting
that has cast new clouds over Geneva peace talks.
(Reuters, 4/14/16)

2016 Apr 15, In Syria fierce
fighting raged around Aleppo as a surge in violence forced tens of
thousands more to flee their homes, overshadowing the latest round
of peace talks in Geneva. Syrian government air strikes hit
rebel-held areas north of Homs for a second day, forcing authorities
to cancel Friday prayers for the first time in six months.
(AFP, 4/15/16)(Reuters, 4/15/16)

2016 Apr 16, In northern Syria
the Islamic State group captured more than a dozen villages and
hills during a fresh offensive. IS also clashed with rival insurgent
groups near the border with Turkey where they have been on the
offensive for days, forcing tens of thousands of residents to flee
toward safer areas near Turkey. 22 civilians were killed in an
exchange of fire in Aleppo.
(AP, 4/16/16)(AFP, 4/17/16)

2016 Apr 17, The United States
and its allies conducted 26 strikes against Islamic State in Iraq
and Syria over the last 24 hours.
(Reuters, 4/17/16)

2016 Apr 18, Syrian rebel
groups announced a new battle against government forces, a sign of
escalating violence that has undermined a ceasefire deal and
threatens to derail UN-led peace talks.
(Reuters, 4/18/16)
2016 Apr 18, In Turkey rocket
projectiles fired from Syria killed 4 Syrians, three of them
children, in the Turkish border town of Kilis.
(AP, 4/18/16)

2016 Apr 19, In Syria bombing
by government forces killed 50 people in two towns of Idlib
province.
(Econ, 4/23/16, p.40)

2016 Apr 20, In north-eastern
Syria 2 members of the Syrian Kurdish security force, known as the
Asayish, were killed after being targeted by government forces in
Qamishli.
(Reuters, 4/20/16)

2016 Apr 21, In Syria at least
40 pro-Syrian government fighters surrendered to Kurdish forces in
the city of Qamishli in mostly Kurdish-controlled Hasaka province.
(Reuters, 4/21/16)

2016 Apr 22, In Syria at least
18 people were killed when airstrikes hit several rebel-held
neighborhoods in Aleppo and neighboring Idlib province. Islamic
State fighters captured Syrian pilot Azzam Eid after he fell by
parachute near the site where his plane crashed east of Damascus.
(AP, 4/22/16)(AFP, 4/22/16)(Reuters, 4/22/16)
2016 Apr 22, In northeastern
Syria regional Kurdish security forces and pro-Syrian government
forces declared a ceasefire, calming a three-day outbreak of
violence which killed more than 26 people.
(Reuters, 4/23/16)
2016 Apr 22, The US military
acknowledged that its air strikes killed 20 civilians in Iraq and
Syria between Sep 10, 2015, and Feb 2, 2016. Six of the strikes were
in Iraq and three were in Syria.
(SFC, 4/23/16, p.A2)

2016 Apr 23, Syrian government
strikes hit opposition-held areas near Damascus and in Aleppo. At
least 27 civilian deaths were reported in regime bombardment across
the country.
(AP, 4/23/16)(AFP, 4/24/16)
2016 Apr 23, The United States
and its allies conducted 28 strikes against Islamic State in Iraq
and Syria.
(Reuters, 4/24/16)

2016 Apr 24, In Syria regime
and rebel bombardment killed 26 civilians in Aleppo despite an
increasingly troubled ceasefire.
(AFP, 4/24/16)
2016 Apr 24, In northeastern
Syria, a truce document announced today showed that regional Kurdish
security forces will keep territory taken from pro-Syrian government
forces during a three-day outbreak of violence, with both sides to
release prisoners taken during the clashes.
(Reuters, 4/24/16)
2016 Apr 24, The United States
and its allies conducted 14 strikes against Islamic State in Iraq
and Syria.
(Reuters, 4/25/16)

2016 Apr 25, In Syria a car
bomb on the outskirts of the Sayeda Zeinab district south of
Damascus killed at least 6 people, the third bombing attack in the
area this year.
(Reuters, 4/25/16)
2016 Apr 25, Turkey's military
said it has destroyed Islamic State's missile launcher in Syria some
20 km from the border town of Kilis which has been repeatedly his by
rockets from the border.
(Reuters, 4/25/16)
2016 Apr 25, President Barack
Obama announced the deployment of up to 250 US military personnel to
Syria, mostly special operations forces, to assist local troops
trying to dislodge Islamic State extremists. He called the move
essential to keeping up momentum against the group.
(AP, 4/25/16)
2016 Apr 25, The United States
and its allies targeted Islamic State with 25 strikes in their
latest assault against the militant group in Iraq and Syria.
(Reuters, 4/26/16)

2016 Apr 26, In Syria attacks
by government forces and rebels killed at least 30 people, including
8 children, in the last 24 hours in Aleppo. 5 Civil Defense workers
were killed west of Aleppo by air strikes and a rocket attack on
their center.
(Reuters, 4/26/16)

2016 Apr 27, The US-led
military coalition targeted Islamic State in Iraq and Syria with 22
strikes.
(Reuters, 4/28/16)

2016 Apr 28, In Syria rebel
rocket and artillery fire on government-held neighborhoods of Aleppo
killed 18 civilians. Regime air strikes on rebel-held districts,
including the densely populated Bustan al-Qasr neighborhood, killed
31 civilians as the Syrian army prepared an offensive to retake the
city. Monitors and activists say at least 60 people have been killed
in airstrikes on Aleppo in the last 24 hours, including at least 27
who were killed when an MSF-supported hospital and nearby buildings
were hit.
(AFP, 4/28/16)(AP, 4/28/16)(SFC, 4/30/16, p.A3)

2016 Apr 29, Syria called local
truces near Damascus and in a northern province but no halt to
combat on the main battlefield in Aleppo. Crude barrel bombs crashed
into residential neighborhoods of Aleppo. At least 17 people were
killed in regime bombardment of the city's eastern districts. Rebel
groups fired a barrage of rockets on government-controlled western
neighborhoods. At least 15 people were killed when rockets struck
the Malla Khan mosque in the government held Bab al-Faraj district.
(Reuters, 4/29/16)(AFP, 4/29/16)(SFC, 4/30/16,
p.A3)
2016 Apr 29, The United States
and Russia agreed on a "freeze" in fighting along two major fronts
in Syria, but not in war-ravaged Aleppo as of midnight.
(AP, 4/29/16)

2016 Apr 30, In Syria terrified
residents fled a new wave of air strikes on rebel-held areas of
Aleppo, as a "freeze" in fighting held on two other fronts.
(AFP, 4/30/16)
2016 Apr 30, In Syria a suicide
bomber killed five Kurdish policemen at a checkpoint in the divided
northeastern city of Qamishli.
(AFP, 4/30/16)

2016 May 1, The United States
and its allies conducted 25 strikes against Islamic State in Iraq
and Syria.
(Reuters, 5/2/16)

2016 May 2, Syria's military
extended a unilateral cease-fire around Damascus and opposition
strongholds in the eastern suburbs of the capital for another 48
hours, as a humanitarian convoy delivered aid to 12,000 families
trapped in a government-besieged area in central Syria.
(AP, 5/2/16)
2016 May 2, The United States
and its allies targeted Islamic State on Monday with 29 strikes
against the militants in Syrian and Iraq, including the northern
city of Mosul under militant control.
(Reuters, 5/3/16)

2016 May 3, In Syria heavy air
strikes throughout the night on the Islamic State group's de facto
capital Raqa killed 19 civilians and 10 jihadists. Syrian opposition
fighters shelled government-held parts of Aleppo. Battles in the
city killed at least 20 people.
(AFP, 5/3/16) (AP, 5/3/16)(SFC,
5/4/16, p.A3)

2016 May 4, In Syria at least
22 suspected regime air strikes pounded a key rebel bastion east of
Damascus after a local freeze on fighting expired overnight. Rebel
forces pressed an offensive against regime troops on the western
outskirts of Aleppo.
(AFP, 5/4/16)
2016 May 4, A truce was
announced for Aleppo, Syria, by US officials in agreement with
Russia, in an effort to extend a fragile cease-fire to the deeply
contested city. The Syrian military said the truce would last only
48 hours.
(AP, 5/5/16)
2016 May 4, Russia said it has
withdrawn around 30 aircraft from Syria, including all of its Su-25
attack planes stationed in the country.
(Reuters, 5/4/16)
2016 May 4, The United States
and its allies conducted 18 strikes against Islamic State in Iraq
and Syria.
(Reuters, 5/5/16)

2016 May 5, In Syria a car bomb
exploded in the main square of a village in Homs province. As people
gathered to help the victims, a suicide bomber riding a motorcycle
detonated his explosives belt nearby, killing at least 10 people and
wounding scores. Air strikes near Sarmada on a camp near the Turkish
border killed at least 28 people.
(AP, 5/5/16)(Reuters, 5/6/16)
2016 May 5, In eastern Syria
Islamic State militants captured the main Shaer gas field in the
first gain for the ultra hardline jihadists in the Palmyra desert
area since they lost the ancient city in March.
(Reuters, 5/5/16)
2016 May 5, Jordanian border
guards said around 64,000 Syrians are stranded at the border with
Jordan after intensified violence around Aleppo.
(AFP, 5/5/16)
2016 May 5, The United States
and its allies conducted 24 strikes against Islamic State in Iraq
and Syria.
(Reuters, 5/6/16)

2016 May 6, In Syria rebels
seized a village from government forces near Aleppo overnight. 43
rebels and 30 government forces were reported killed in the battle
for Khan Touman, some 15 km (9 miles) southwest of Aleppo. 13
military advisers with the Iranian Revolutionary Guards were killed
as rebels seized the village of Khan Touman. 18 others wounded and
five to six were captured.
(Reuters, 5/6/16)(AFP, 5/7/16)(Reuters, 5/9/16)
2016 May 6, The US government
said it has suspended millions of dollars in funding to several
organizations providing aid for Syria after discovering they were
systematically overpaying Turkish companies for basic goods with the
collusion of some of their staff.
(AFP, 5/10/16)

2016 May 7, Syrian state news
agency SANA reported that Russia's defense ministry said a "regime
of calm" truce in the northern city of Aleppo and parts of Latakia
province had been extended "for 72 hours beginning at 1 am on
Saturday" (1700 ET on Friday).
(Reuters, 5/7/16)
2016 May 7, Turkish artillery
fired at the Islamic State group across the border in Syria, killing
55 militants and destroying three rocket launchers and three
vehicles.
(AP, 5/8/16)
2016 May 7, The United States
and its allies targeted Islamic State in Iraq with 17 air strikes,
and hit the militant group with eight air strikes in Syria.
(Reuters, 5/8/16)

2016 May 9, In Syria multiple
air raids struck rebel-held areas while shelling hit
government-controlled parts of Aleppo, hours before a five-day
cease-fire was to expire.
(AP, 5/9/16)

2016 May 10, In Syria two
airstrikes struck the northwestern town of Binnish, killing at least
10 people, wounding many others and knocking out the dome of a
mosque. The LCC said the warplanes were Syrian while the Observatory
said it wasn't clear if they were Syrian or Russian.
(AP, 5/10/16)

2016 May 11, Syrian regime
forces battled jihadists who cut a key supply route west of ancient
Palmyra, after new bombardments hit Aleppo city where a ceasefire is
due to expire at midnight.
(AFP, 5/11/16)

2016 May 12, Syrian government
forces battled rebels north of Aleppo as a ceasefire expired in the
city itself. Insurgents captured the Alawite village of al-Zara from
government control in western Syria and abducted civilians living
there.
(Reuters, 5/12/16)
2016 May 12, In Syria Lebanon’s
top Hezbollah commander Mustafa Badreddine (55) was killed in an
explosion in Damascus.
(AP, 5/13/16)

2016 May 13, Suspected Syrian
government airstrikes in the northern city of Idlib killed at least
5 people.
(AP, 5/13/16)
2016 May 13, Belgium said it
will extend its F-16 air strikes against Islamic State jihadists in
Iraq into Syria, as it grapples with the aftermath of deadly
IS-claimed bomb attacks in Brussels in March.
(AFP, 5/13/16)
2016 May 13, Turkish fighter
jets carried out nine airstrikes against Kurdish rebels in the
southeast of the country and northern Iraq. The warplanes reportedly
destroyed 98 targets of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party.
(AP, 5/14/16)
2016 May 13, The United States
and its allies targeted Islamic State militants in Iraq with 17
strikes and five in Syria.
(Reuters, 5/14/16)

2016 May 14, In Syria the
Islamic State attacked a hospital in Deir al-Zor and seized
territory on the edge of the besieged city still partly controlled
by the government. The fighting killed at least 20 members of the
Syrian government forces and at least six Islamic State fighters.
(Reuters, 5/14/16)
2016 May 14, Turkey’s state-run
Anadolu Agency reported that Turkish military and US-led coalition
forces killed 45 Islamic State militants in shelling and an air
strike north of the Syrian city of Aleppo.
(Reuters, 5/14/16)

2016 May 15, Turkish and US-led
coalition forces struck Islamic State targets north of the Syrian
city of Aleppo, killing 27 fighters. The United States and its
allies conducted 14 strikes against Islamic State in Iraq and Syria.
(Reuters, 5/16/16)

2016 May 16, The United States
and its allies conducted 12 strikes against Islamic State in Iraq
and Syria.
(Reuters, 5/17/16)

2016 May 17, World and regional
powers meeting in Vienna agreed to try and turn Syria's shaky pause
in fighting into a comprehensive cease-fire as a step toward ending
the five-year war that left hundreds of thousands dead and fueled
the rise of Islamic extremists.
(AP, 5/17/16)

2016 May 18, In central Syria a
regime air strike killed at least 13 members of the same family,
including eight children in Rastan.
(AFP, 5/18/16)
2016 May 18, The United States
and its allies staged 17 strikes against Islamic State in Iraq and
Syria.
(Reuters, 5/19/16)

2016 May 19, Syrian government
forces and allied militias made a swift advance into Damascus's
rebel-held suburbs, threatening to disrupt a years-long stalemate in
the war around the Syrian capital.
(AP, 5/19/16)
2016 May 19, The United States
and its allies conducted 17 strikes against Islamic State in Iraq
and Syria.
(Reuters, 5/20/16)

2016 May 20, Moscow proposed
that Russia and United States, which have been flying separate
bombing campaigns in Syria, launch joint air strikes against
jihadists in the war-torn country from next week.
(AFP, 5/20/16)

2016 May 21, In northeastern
Syria bombings suspected to have been carried out by the Islamic
State group killed at least 8 people hours after a top US commander
visited.
(AFP, 5/22/16)

2016 May 22, In Syria Russian
warplanes hit a key rebel supply route to Aleppo in Moscow's first
strikes on Syria's battleground second city since a February
ceasefire.
(AFP, 5/22/16)

2016 May 23, In Syria bomb
blasts killed scores of people in Jableh and Tartous and wounded
many others in the government-controlled territory that hosts
Russian military bases. 161 people were killed in attacks by at
least five suicide bombers and two devices planted in cars. The
Islamic State claimed responsibility for the attacks. Those killed
included 43 people at the Jableh National Hospital.
(Reuters, 5/23/16)(AP, 5/24/16)

2016 May 24, The Syrian
Democratic Forces, a Kurdish-Arab alliance, announced the launch of
a major assault against the Islamic State group north of the
jihadists' Syrian bastion of Raqa.
(AFP, 5/24/16)
2016 May 24, The United States
and its allies staged 17 strikes against Islamic State in Iraq and
Syria.
(Reuters, 5/25/16)

2016 May 26, US-backed Syrian
fighters (SDF) and Iraqi forces pursued twin assaults against the
Islamic State group, but experts warned the battles will be drawn
out.
(AFP, 5/26/16)

2016 May 27, In Syria at least
100,000 people were trapped along the border with Turkey after the
Islamic State group swept through rebel territory in Aleppo
province. IS fighters captured territory from Syrian rebels near the
border and inched closer to a town on a supply route for
foreign-backed insurgents fighting the jihadists.
(AFP, 5/27/16)(Reuters, 5/27/16)
2016 May 27, Syrian Observatory
for Human Rights said warplanes from the US-led coalition have
pounded the Islamic State group with at least 150 strikes to bolster
a major offensive on the jihadists' Syrian stronghold of Raqa.
Coalition warplanes dropped leaflets encouraging residents to flee
Raqa.
(AFP, 5/27/16)
2016 May 27, US-led coalition
airstrikes and Turkish artillery fire against the Islamic State
group in Syria killed 104 militants.
(AP, 5/28/16)

2016 May 28, In northeastern
Syria heavy fighting between the Islamic State group and rebels
gripped the town of Marea.
(AFP, 5/28/16)

2016 May 29, Syrian rebels
retook the villages of Kafr Shoush and Braghida from Islamic State
militants, expanding their buffer around the rebel-held town of
Azaz. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said thousands of
civilians have fled an offensive by the IS group against
non-jihadist rebels in the north into territory controlled by a
US-backed Kurdish-led alliance.
(AP, 5/29/16)(AFP, 5/29/16)

2016 May 31, In Syria a wave of
overnight airstrikes pummeled the northwestern city of Idlib,
killing at least 23 people, wounding dozens and trapping several
under the rubble of their homes. Russia denied the strikes.
(AP, 5/31/16)
2016 May 31, In Syria thousands
of US-backed fighters opened a major new front, launching an
offensive to drive Islamic State out of a swathe of northern Syria
it uses as a logistics base, and were reported to be making rapid
progress.
(Reuters, 6/1/16)

2016 Jun 1, In Syria
Kurdish-led Syrian fighters launched a new advance on Manbij. The
US-led international coalition fighting the Islamic State group said
it had conducted 18 air strikes near the strategic town of Manbij in
northern Syria over the last 24 hours with at least 15 civilians
killed. The strikes destroyed an IS headquarters, six IS-used
bridges, communication towers, and eight IS fighting positions,
among other targets. The Kurdish militia also launched an offensive
to capture the IS-held Tabqa air base.
(AFP, 6/1/16)(SFC, 6/2/16, p.A2)
2016 Jun 1, The Russian Defense
Ministry said that a temporary ceasefire, which it called a "regime
of calm", had taken effect for 48 hours in the Damascus suburb of
Daraya to allow for the distribution of humanitarian aid to
civilians.
(Reuters, 6/1/16)

2016 Jun 4, The Syrian
Observatory for Human Rights said the Syrian army has crossed the
boundary of Raqqa province, home to the de facto capital of Islamic
State.
(Reuters, 6/4/16)
2016 Jun 4, Russian news
agencies reported that more than 40 people have been killed and
around a hundred injured by Al Nusra militants shelling in the
Syrian city of Aleppo.
(Reuters, 6/4/16)
2016 Jun 4, Turkey’s military
said cross-border shelling by the Turkish army and air strikes by
US-led coalition aircraft have killed 14 Islamic State militants in
Syria.
(AP, 6/4/16)
2016 Jun 4, The United States
and its allies conducted a total of 23 military strikes against
Islamic State in Syria and Iraq.
(Reuters, 6/5/16)
2016 Jun 4, Top US Navy Adm.
John Richardson said the aircraft carrier USS Harry S. Truman has
begun launching airstrikes against the Islamic State group from the
Mediterranean Sea.
(AP, 6/4/16)

2016 Jun 5, The Syrian
Observatory for Human Rights said dozens of Syrian regime strikes on
Aleppo killed at least 16 civilians. Nearly 40 strikes hit
rebel-held areas in and around Aleppo city in some of the heaviest
recent raids by Russian and Syrian government war-planes.
(AFP, 6/5/16)(Reuters, 6/5/16)
2016 Jun 5, A top Syrian
Kurdish commander died. Abu Layla, who commanded a brigade inside
the predominantly-Kurdish Syrian Democratic Forces, was hit by IS
sniper fire on the outskirts of Manbij, several days earlier during
a US-backed campaign to unseat the Islamic State group from its
de-facto Syrian capital, Raqqa.
(AP, 6/5/16)

2016 Jun 6, Syrian regime
troops supported by Russia and US-backed fighters pressed twin
offensives against the Islamic State group as pressure built on the
jihadists' northern strongholds in the war-torn country. 17
civilians, including 8 children, were killed in air strikes on
Al-Shaara, an IS-held town in eastern Deir Ezzor province.
(AFP, 6/6/16)
2016 Jun 6, In Syria Hadiyeh
al-Abbas (58), a woman who is a member of President Bashar Assad's
Baath party, was chosen as the new parliament speaker, becoming the
first woman to ever hold the post.
(AP, 6/6/16)
2016 Jun 6, Turkey’s state-run
Anadolu news agency reported that shelling by Turkey's military and
attacks by US-led coalition aircraft have killed 7 Islamic State
militants in Syria.
(Reuters, 6/6/16)

2016 Jun 7, In northern
Syria thousands of civilians fled Mambij, a key town along the
Islamic State group's supply lifeline, as US-backed fighters closed
in from three sides. Syrian government troops backed by Russian air
power moved to within 25 km of Tabqa, an Islamic State-held town in
Raqqa province.
(AFP, 6/7/16)(Reuters, 6/7/16)

2016 Jun 8, In Syria airstrikes
on rebel-held districts of Aleppo, including one that struck near a
hospital, killed 15 civilians and wounded many others. Rebels backed
by Islamist groups launched simultaneous attacks from both Marea and
Azaz, squeezing IS jihadists out of the villages of Kafr Kalbin and
Kaljibrin and reopening the road.
(AP, 6/8/16)(AFP, 6/8/16)
2016 Jun 8, In Syria US-led
coalition airstrikes and Turkish artillery fire against Islamic
State group targets reportedly killed 18 militants.
(AP, 6/9/16)
2016 Jun 8, RIA news agency,
citing the Russian coordination center in Syria, reported that
Russia's Defense Ministry has spotted the movement of over 160 Nusra
Front fighters from Turkey into Syria to reinforce "terrorists"
around the city of Aleppo.
(Reuters, 6/8/16)

2016 Jun 9, In northern Syria
US-backed fighters closed all major roads leading to Manbij, a
stronghold of the Islamic State group, and surrounded it from three
sides.
(AP, 6/9/16)
2016 Jun 9, In France Rifaat
al-Assad (78), Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's uncle, was charged
with corruption. He was suspected of using ill-gotten gains to build
a real estate empire in France. He had commanded Syria's notorious
internal security forces in the 1970s and early 1980s.
(AFP, 6/28/16)

2016 Jun 10, Syria's regime
bombarded Daraya, a rebel-held town outside Damascus, preventing
besieged residents from receiving food aid after its first such
delivery in years. US-backed forces seized control of the last route
into the IS-held city of Manbij, completing their encirclement of
the main target in a major advance against the militants.
(AFP, 6/10/16)(Reuters, 6/10/16)

2016 Jun 11, In Syria suicide
and car bomb blasts struck the Damascus suburb of Sayyidah Zaynab
near the Sayeda Zeinab shrine, the country’s holiest Shi'ite Muslim
shrine. At least 20 people were reported killed. The Islamic State
claimed responsibility. Sayyidah Zeinab was the daughter of the
first Shiite imam, Ali, and granddaughter of the Prophet Muhammad.
(Reuters, 6/11/16)(SSFC, 6/12/16, p.A5)
2016 Jun 11, In northern
Syria a siege by US-backed Kurdish and Arab forces of the key
jihadist-held city of Manbij left tens of thousands of civilians
trapped. At least 159 IS fighters and 22 SDF troops were reported
killed as well as 37 civilians, most of the last group in coalition
air raids, since the alliance launched its Manbij offensive on May
31.
(AFP, 6/11/16)

2016 Jun 12, In Syria at least
12 people were killed when several airstrikes struck the
insurgent-held city of Idlib. Hundreds of civilians escaped the
besieged jihadist bastion of Manbij helped by a US-backed
Kurdish-Arab alliance surrounding the town.
(AP, 6/12/16)(AFP, 6/12/16)

2016 Jun 15, In Syria at least
70 fighters were reported killed in less than 24 hours of fierce
clashes between pro-regime forces, jihadists and rebels in Aleppo
province.
(AFP, 6/15/16)

2016 Jun 16, The Russian
Defense Ministry said a 48-hour cessation of hostilities has been
declared in the divided northern Syrian city of Aleppo and activists
reported a relative calm in the city. Barrels bombs hit Aleppo just
hours after a temporary truce came into effect in the war-torn city.
Russian warplanes struck at rebels battling Islamic State militants,
including forces backed by the United States, in southern Syria.
(AP, 6/16/16)(AFP, 6/16/16)(Reuters, 6/17/16)
2016 Jun 16, United Nations
investigators said the Islamic State is committing genocide against
the Yazidis in Syria and Iraq to destroy the religious community of
400,000 people through killings, sexual slavery and other crimes.
(Reuters, 6/16/16)

2016 Jun 17, In Syria the
Islamic State carried out two suicide attacks and five car bombings
in the southwestern suburbs of Manbij. 6 members of the same family
were killed when they were targeted by jihadists while fleeing.
(AFP, 6/18/16)
2016 Jun 17, It was reported
that 51 US State Department diplomats have signed an internal memo
critical of US policy in Syria, calling for military strikes against
President Bashar al-Assad's government to stop its persistent
violations of a civil war ceasefire.
(Reuters, 6/17/16)

2016 Jun 18, In Syria at least
7 people died in rebel shelling of a neighborhood of Aleppo held by
the Kurdish YPG militia. Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said a
four-day offensive by different militant groups, including the
al-Qaida-affiliated Nusra Front, killed 86 troops and pro-government
gunmen, including 25 members of Lebanon's Hezbollah group. Militants
now controlled the villages of Zeitan and Khalsa, south of Aleppo
city.
(Reuters, 6/18/16)(AP, 6/18/16)
2016 Jun 18, In Syria US-led
coalition jets and Turkish artillery killed 13 Islamic State
militants.
(Reuters, 6/18/16)
2016 Jun 18, At least 8 Syrian
refugees, including four children were allegedly shot dead by border
guards while trying to cross the frontier into Turkey’s Hatay
province.
(AP, 6/19/16)

2016 Jun 19, Syrian media
reported that a government jet bomber crashed just after take-off
from Hama airport after it encountered a technical problem.
(Reuters, 6/19/16)
2016 Jun 19, In Syria a suicide
blast targeted the entrance to a park in Qamishli, which is shared
between government and Kurdish forces, killing three people, an hour
after a memorial was held there for victims of the 1915 Armenian
genocide.
(AP, 6/19/16)
2016 Jun 19, Russia said it had
reached an agreement with the United States to improve coordination
between their military operations in Syria, where they are backing
opposing sides of a civil war and launching air strikes.
(Reuters, 6/19/16)

2016 Jun 21, Syrian Observatory
for Human Rights said government forces have lost all the territory
they gained in Raqqa province since launching their offensive on
June 2. It also said 40 troops were killed over the past two days,
raising to 93 the number of troops killed since the offensive began.
It added that 126 IS militants have been killed in the area so far,
including 21 since June 19.
(AP, 6/21/16)
2016 Jun 21, A car bomb
exploded on the Syrian-Jordanian border early today, killing 6
Jordanian border guards. The blast went off close to a makeshift
tent encampment where tens of thousands of Syrian refugees are
stranded, awaiting entry to Jordan. Sonn after Jordan's army chief
of staff announced that the country's northern and northeastern
borders with Syria were closed military zones.
(AP, 6/21/16)(Reuters, 6/21/16)
2016 Jun 21, A rescue plane
from a British base on the Antarctic peninsula landed at the South
Pole to evacuate sick workers from the remote US Amundson-Scott
science station. The two sick workers were transported to Chile.
(AP, 6/22/16)(SFC, 6/23/16, p.A3)

2016 Jun 22, Syrian President
Bashar al-Assad named electricity minister Imad Khamis (54) as the
new prime minister and tasked him with forming a cabinet.
(AFP, 6/22/16)

2016 Jun 23, In Syria US-backed
forces fought Islamic State militants inside Manbij for the first
time since they laid siege to the militant stronghold near the
Turkish border.
(Reuters, 6/23/16)

2016 Jun 25, Syrian and Russian
warplanes pounded rebel-held areas of divided city Aleppo as
government forces closed in on the rebels' sole remaining supply
line.
(AfP, 6/25/16)
2016 Jun 25, A Kurdish official
and opposition activists said hundreds of Kurds fleeing villages
controlled by the Islamic State group in northern Syria have come
under fire that killed and wounded several of them, amid mass
abductions by the extremist group. Over the past three weeks some
900 Kurdish civilians have been abducted in Aleppo province. At
least 26 were reported killed for refusing to follow Islamic State
orders.
(AP, 6/25/16)(SFC, 6/25/16, p.A2)

2016 Jun 26, The Syrian
Observatory for Human Rights said at least 82 people including 58
civilians were killed in Russian and regime air strikes on an
Islamic State group-held region of Al-Quriyah, southeast of Deir
Ezzor city.
(AFP, 6/26/16)

2016 Jun 28, In Syria the
US-led coalition carried out eight air strikes near Albu Kamal and
five near Al-Qaim, on the Iraqi side. The New Syrian Army (NSA)
advanced overnight on IS territory near the Albu Kamal border
crossing and adjacent town, but IS recaptured it by the following
afternoon.
(AFP, 6/29/16)
2016 Jun 28, A Turkish official
said military rules of engagement have been adjusted to allow NATO
allies to carry out more patrol flights along its border with
northern Syria. NATO was told about the move around three weeks ago.
(Reuters, 6/28/16)

2016 Jun 29, In Syria a joint
convoy of UN, the Red Cross and Syrian Red Crescent trucks carrying
medical and food aid entered two blockaded towns near Damascus.
(AP, 6/29/16)
2016 Jun 29, In Syria a car
bomb killed at least 10 people in Tal Abyad town, held by US-backed
Kurdish-led forces, near the Turkish border. Fighters from the New
Syrian Army returned to their base in Tanf having lost 4 fighters
and four vehicles in a failed effort to capture Boukamal, an IS
border crossing between Iraq and Syria.
(AFP, 6/29/16)(SFC, 7/4/16, p.A4)

2016 Jun 30, Doctors Without
Borders said tens of thousands of Syrians are stranded on the
Jordanian border and face starvation and dehydration.
(SFC, 7/1/16, p.A2)

2016 Jul 2, In Syria government
airstrikes killed 43 people in a rebel-held area where militants had
captured and killed a government fighter pilot. 7 medical personnel
were among those killed in the town of Jeiroud (Jayrud).
(AP, 7/2/16)(AFP, 7/2/16)(AFP, 7/3/16)
2016 Jul 2, Syria's al
Qaeda-linked Nusra Front abducted Mohammad al Ghabi, the commander
of the Western-backed Jaish al-Tahrir brigade, and a number of his
aides in a house raid in Kfr Nubl in Idlib province. Jaish al Tahrir
has about 4,000 well trained fighters.
(Reuters, 7/3/16)
2016 Jul 2, Turkey’s President
Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that Syrians could eventually be granted
Turkish citizenship "if they want it", in remarks which were met
with anger from opposition politicians and social media users.
(AP, 7/11/16)

2016 Jul 3, The Israeli army
attacked two Syrian military targets on the Golan Heights after
stray Syrian fire damaged the security fence along the demarcation
line.
(AFP, 7/4/16)

2016 Jul 4, The Syrian
Observatory for Human Rights said at least 13,000 civilians have
fled the Islamic State bastion of Manbij since the launch of a
US-backed offensive there.
(AFP, 7/4/16)

2016 Jul 6, The Free Syrian
Army rebel alliance said it would respect a 3-day Eid holiday
ceasefire, but only if government forces also abided by it, accusing
the government of having already violated the truce.
(Reuters, 7/6/16)

2016 Jul 7, The Syrian army
advanced within firing range of the rebels' sole supply route to
Aleppo in heavy fighting despite its announcement of a ceasefire for
the Eid al-Fitr holiday. Saudi-backed rebel group Jaish al-Islam
(Army of Islam) said four of its fighters were killed trying to stop
the army from cutting the Castello Road, the only route into
rebel-held areas of Aleppo.
(AFP, 7/7/16)

2016 Jul 8, In northwestern
Syria airstrikes on a village killed 23 people and wounded dozens in
Darkoush, Idlib province, despite a declared 3-day truce. Syrian
rebels fired a rocket barrage on residential areas in the government
side of Aleppo, killing 44 according to state media.
(AP, 7/8/16)(AP, 7/9/16)
2016 Jul 8, In Syria militants
shot down a military helicopter near Palmyra, killing 2 Russian
pilots on board.
(Reuters, 7/10/16)

2016 Jul 9, Syria's military
said it would extend its own cease-fire for three days, even as
pro-government forces advanced against rebels in the north. Syrian
regime forces repelled a fierce assault by opposition fighters
seeking to reopen their only supply route into Aleppo city, killing
at least 29 rebels.
(AP, 7/9/16)(AFP, 7/10/16)

2016 Jul 11, In Syria rebels
launched an attack against government positions in Aleppo in
response to an offensive that cut a road leading into the
opposition-held sector of the city. State television said 8 people
had been killed and that the bombardments had brought down
buildings.
(Reuters, 7/11/16)

2016 Jul 14, In Syria Islamic
State fighters brought down a government jet near the eastern city
of Deir al-Zor. A series of airstrikes on rebel-held areas of Aleppo
city killed at least 12 people. An international aid convoy reached
the besieged town of al-Waer in the central Homs province, bringing
aid to 75,000 people.
(Reuters, 7/14/16)(AP, 7/14/16)
2016 Jul 14, Russia said it has
has conducted more than 50 air strikes since July 12 against Islamic
State (IS) jihadists near the Syrian city of Palmyra. Six Tupolev
bombers flew out of an airbase in Russia today and conducted strikes
east of Palmyra, near the cities of Arak and Sukhna, as well as in
the Homs region.
(AFP, 7/14/16)

2016 Jul 16, In Syria air raids
on rebel-held districts of Aleppo killed at least 25 civilians
including children. Government troops regained control of Kinsabba
in Latakia province.
(AFP, 7/16/16)(SSFC, 7/17/16, p.A2)
2016 Jul 17, The US-led
coalition against the Islamic State (IS) group resumed air strikes
from a Turkish air base that were suspended after a failed military
coup d'etat.
(AFP, 7/17/16)

2016 Jul 18, The Syrian
Observatory for Human Rights said 21 civilians were killed in US
coalition raids, 15 of them in a northern district of Manbij and
another six in Al-Tukhar.
(AP, 7/19/16)

2016 Jul 19, In Syria children
were among at least 56 civilians killed in strikes by a US-led
coalition near a village held by the Islamic State group. The
civilians had apparently been mistaken for jihadists and were bombed
while fleeing fighting in Al-Tukhar, Aleppo province. 12 civilians
were reported killed in strikes on the rebel-held town of Atareb.
(AFP, 7/19/16)

2016 Jul 20, Syrian rebel
group Nour al-Din al-Zinki Movement, which has received US
military backing, said it is investigating the beheading of a young
child in Aleppo after video footage circulated showing the boy being
killed by a man activists identified as a member of the group.
(Reuters, 7/20/16)

2016 Jul 21, In Syria
government air strikes and shelling killed at least 43 civilians,
including 11 children in several rebel-held areas.
(AP, 7/21/16)
2016 Jul 21, Nearly 40 Syrian
soldiers and pro-regime fighters were killed when rebels blew up a
tunnel under a government position in Aleppo city.
(AFP, 7/22/16)
2016 Jul 21, The head of the
opposition Syrian National Coalition called for a suspension of the
US-led air campaign against Islamic State in Syria while reports of
dozens of civilian deaths from air strikes around the northern city
of Manbij are investigated.
(Reuters, 7/21/16)

2016 Jul 22, In northern Syria
sporadic clashes between Islamic Sate militants and US-backed
fighters erupted in the IS-held town of Manbij after the extremists
ignored a 48-hour offer from the day before to leave the besieged
town without a fight.
(AP, 7/22/16)

2016 Jul 24, In Syria rockets
rained down on several Old Damascus neighborhoods killing at least 8
people and wounding 20 others. Government air raids struck five
medical clinics in Aleppo province.
(AFP, 7/24/16)(SFC, 7/25/16,
p.A2)

2016 Jul 25, Syria's regime
intensified air strikes on rebel-held areas of Aleppo province as a
UN envoy prepared to meet US and Russian officials to try to revive
peace talks.
(AFP, 7/25/16)

2016 Jul 26, Syrian government
forces called on opposition fighters in Aleppo to drop their weapons
and surrender to authorities as they captured new ground on the
northwestern edge of the city, tightening the siege on rebel-held
parts of the metropolis where some 300,000 people live.
(AP, 7/26/16)

2016 Jul 27, In Syria a large
truck bomb blast claimed by Islamic State targeted Kurdish
security forces and killed at least 48 people and wounded scores
more in the northeastern city of Qamishli. Government air strikes
and artillery fire killed at least 16 civilians on in rebel-held
neighbourhoods in the east of Aleppo city.
(Reuters, 7/27/16)(AFP, 7/27/16)

2016 Jul 28, Syrian
pro-government forces tightened their grip around Aleppo, and the
governor of the area said they would open corridors for civilians to
escape the besieged, rebel-held districts of the city. Militants
retook the northern village of al-Bouweir from the Syrian Democratic
Forces and killed 24 civilians there.
(Reuters, 7/28/16)(AP, 7/29/16)
2016 Jul 28, In Syria at least
28 people, including seven children, died in air strikes on the
village of al Ghandour in the countryside north of Manbij city. The
US-led coalition fighting Islamic State militants conducted air
strikes in the area in the last 24 hours.
(Reuters, 7/29/16)

2016 Jul 29, Aid agencies urged
Syria's regime to end the siege of rebel-held east Aleppo as
residents cowered indoors afraid to use what some described as
"death corridors" to flee the city.
(AFP, 7/29/16)

2016 Jul 30, In Syria dozens of
civilians left the besieged and battered opposition-held east of
Aleppo city through a "humanitarian corridor" to the government-held
west. Russia's defence ministry announced that four additional
"humanitarian corridors" will be opened from Aleppo, adding that 169
civilians have been able to get out so far.
(AFP, 7/30/16)

2016 Jul 31, In southern Syria
a government airstrike on a hospital in opposition-controlled Jasem
put the facility out of service. It was targeted in one of several
airstrikes to hit the town in Deraa province. 6 people were reported
killed in the strikes.
(AP, 7/31/16)
2016 Jul 31, The Islamic State
called on its group members to carry out jihad in Russia in a
nine-minute YouTube video.
(Reuters, 7/31/16)

2016 Aug 1, In northern Syria a
Russian transport helicopter was shot down in opposition rebel
territory. All five crew and officers onboard were killed.
(AP, 8/1/16)

2016 Aug 2, A Syrian rescue
service operating in rebel-held territory said a helicopter dropped
containers of toxic gas overnight on a town close to where a Russian
military helicopter was shot down hours earlier. Russia launched
heavy air strikes overnight on the outskirts of divided Aleppo city,
slowing a "last-chance" assault by rebels seeking to break a
government siege.
(Reuters, 8/2/16)(AFP, 8/2/16)

2016 Aug 3, Syrian regime
forces bolstered by Russian air strikes recaptured territory
overnight in the battleground city of Aleppo, rolling back the
short-lived gains of a rebel offensive.
(AFP, 8/3/16)
2016 Aug 3, A UN commission
investigating human rights abuses in Syria said the Islamic State
group is still committing genocide and other crimes against the
Yazidi minority in Iraq.
(AP, 8/3/16)

2016 Aug 4, Aid agencies said
they have delivered a month's worth of food and supplies this week
to more than 75,000 Syrians stuck on Jordan's sealed border, using
cranes to lift bags from the Jordanian side over an earthen barrier
along the frontier.
(AP, 8/4/16)

2016 Aug 5, In Syria at least
10 people, including seven children, were killed in air strikes on
the rebel-held Marjeh district east of Aleppo.
(AFP, 8/5/16)
2016 Aug 5, Denmark's armed
forces said Danish F-16 aircraft have for the first time dropped
bombs in Syria's Raqqa province. Defense Command Denmark said the
raid was conducted in the past week.
(AP, 8/5/16)

2016 Aug 6, In northern Syria
the former Al-Nusra Front, renamed the Fateh al-Sham Front after
breaking from Al-Qaeda, announced that rebels have broken a
devastating government siege of Aleppo after a week of fierce
fighting. Syria Democratic Forces (SDF), a coalition of Arab and
Kurd fighters, took control of Manbij from IS militants.
(AFP, 8/6/16)

2016 Aug 7, In Syria rebels
breached the government siege on opposition neighborhoods in the
city of Aleppo, marking a major military breakthrough that prompted
an intense airstrike campaign.
(AP, 8/7/16)

2016 Aug 9, The United Nations
warned that up to two million people in Syria's Aleppo have gone
without running water for the past four days.
(AFP, 8/9/16)

2016 Aug 10, Lt. Gen. Sean
MacFarland, the top US commander for the fight against the Islamic
State, said military campaigns in Iraq and Syria have taken 45,000
enemy combatants off the battlefield and reduced the total number of
IS fighters to as few as 15,000.
(AP, 8/11/16)

2016 Aug 11, In Syria doctors
in Aleppo made a heart-wrenching plea for the US to help civilians
hit by fresh fighting despite a promised Russian aid window. Russian
air strikes on the IS bastion of Raqa killed at least 30 people,
including 24 civilians.
(AFP, 8/11/16)

2016 Aug 12, In Syria a series
of airstrikes in opposition areas in northern Aleppo province killed
at least 18 people, including children and two hospital staffers,
when the missiles hit an open market in Urem al-Kubra, a women and
children's hospital in Kafr Hamra and the village of Hayan.
(AP, 8/12/16)
2016 Aug 12, In northern Syria
Islamic State fighters seized around 2,000 civilians to use as
"human shields" as they fled their stronghold of Manbij.
(AFP, 8/12/16)

2016 Aug 13, In northern Syria
US-backed forces seized full control of Manbij near the Turkish
border after the last remaining Islamic State fighters, who had been
using civilians as human shields, left. Clashes and airstrikes
continued across Aleppo province, resulting in at least 49 civilian
deaths. Within ten days of the the liberation of Manbij booby traps
and mines planted by retreating jihadists killed 29 people.
(Reuters, 8/13/16)(AP, 8/14/16)(Econ, 4/1/17,
p.41)

2016 Aug 14, Syria's
rebel-held, northwestern Idlib province came under heavy
bombardment, activists reported, as rebels and pro-government forces
battled for control of the nearby city of Aleppo. Russian air
strikes around Deir Ezzor killed a large number of militants while
destroying two command posts, six arms caches, two tanks, four
armored infantry vehicles and seven all-terrain vehicles with heavy
machine guns.
(AP, 8/14/16)

2016 Aug 15, Syrian government
forces repelled a renewed rebel assault southwest of the city of
Aleppo, forcing opposition forces spearheaded by Fath al-Sham,
formerly known as the Nusra Front, to retreat from positions they
seized a daily earlier.
(AP, 8/15/16)

2016 Aug 16, Russian warplanes
took off from a base in Iran to target Islamic State fighters and
other militants in Syria.
(AP, 8/16/16)

2016 Aug 19, A Kurdish official
said Syrian Kurdish militia have seized several positions from
government forces in the divided city of Hasaka (Hassakeh). At least
13 people, including children and women, were reported killed as a
result of shelling by the army on Kurdish-controlled areas of
Hasaka.
(Reuters, 8/19/16)
2016 Aug 19, Russian warships
in the Mediterranean Sea fired cruise missiles at targets near
Aleppo.
(Reuters, 8/19/16)

2016 Aug 20, Syrian regime jets
pounded US-backed Kurdish forces in the northeast for a second day,
even after the US-led coalition scrambled jets to protect its
military advisers working on the ground.
(AFP, 8/20/16)

2016 Aug 22, The Kurdish YPG
militia launched a major assault to seize the last
government-controlled parts of the northeastern Syrian city of
Hasaka after calling on pro-government militias to surrender.
(Reuters, 8/22/16)
2016 Aug 22, Jordan signed
grant agreements for the school program with Britain, the US, Norway
and Switzerland. Donor countries pledged close to $100 million to
help Jordan enroll all Syrian refugee children in the kingdom in
schools next month.
(AP, 8/22/16)

2016 Aug 23, Turkey's artillery
shelled Islamic State group targets across the border in Syria for a
second consecutive day. Two mortar shells fired from Syria hit the
border town of Karkamis. Three rocket shells fired from Syria hit
the border town of Kilis.
(AP, 8/23/16)(Reuters, 8/23/16)

2016 Aug 24, Turkish tanks and
armoured vehicles crossed into the Islamic State group-held border
district of Jarablus with air cover from the US-led coalition in
“Operation Euphrates Shield." The Syrian government and Syrian
Kurdish officials condemned the incursion.
(AFP, 8/24/16)(Reuters, 8/24/16)(Reuters,
8/25/16)

2016 Aug 25, At least nine more
Turkish tanks entered northern Syria as part of an operation aimed
at driving Islamic State out of the border area around Jarablus and
stopping Kurdish militia fighters from seizing territory.
(Reuters, 8/25/16)

2016 Aug 26, In Syria besieged
residents and rebels began leaving the Damascus suburb of Daraya,
beginning an an evacuation to end one of the longest stand-offs in
the five-year war.
(Reuters, 8/26/16)

2016 Aug 27, Turkey sent more
tanks into Syria to bolster a military offensive against jihadists
and Kurdish fighters.
(AP, 8/27/16)

2016 Aug 28, Turkey's army and
its allies thrust deeper into Syria, seizing territory controlled by
Kurdish-aligned forces on the fifth day of a cross-border campaign
that a monitoring group said had killed at least 35 villagers.
(Reuters, 8/28/16)

2016 Aug 29, Turkey’s military
said its armed forces carried out 57 artillery strikes on 16
militant targets in northern Syria over the last 24 hours.
(Reuters, 8/29/16)

2016 Aug 30, In Syria top
Islamic State group strategist and spokesman Abu Mohamed al-Adnani
was killed. US coalition forces had targeted Adnani, who had a $5
million bounty on his head, in an air strike in Aleppo province.
(AFP, 8/31/16)(Reuters, 12/5/16)
2016 Aug 30, In Syria retired
Iranian general Ahmad Gholami, died while fighting in Aleppo. He had
served as a senior Revolutionary Guards commander in the Iraq-Iran
war of the 1980s.
(AFP, 8/31/16)

2016 Sep 1, In Syria opposition
fighters seized several areas in a rapid advance against government
forces in central Hama province, prompting a wave of regime air
strikes. At least 25 civilians, including children, were killed in
the strikes early today as fighting raged in parts of Hama.
(AFP, 9/1/16)
2016 Sep 1, A coalition of NGOs
led by Human Rights Watch (HRW) said evidence is growing that Russia
is behind a significant increase in the use of cluster bombs in
Syria. More than 400 people were reported killed or maimed by the
banned munitions in the world last year.
(AFP, 9/1/16)

2016 Sep 8, In Syria
unidentified aircraft hit the Army of Conquest meeting late today,
killing Fateh al-Sham Front rebel commander Abu Omar Saraqeb
(Saraqib) and another rebel commander named as Abu Muslim al-Shami.
Last July the former Al-Qaeda affiliate Al-Nusra Front was renamed
Fateh al-Sham Front. The group numbered some 7,000 fighters, mostly
from Syria.
(AFP, 9/9/16)(Econ, 9/17/16, p.56)

2016 Sep 13, The Israeli
military struck artillery positions in Syria after a projectile from
that country's civil war hit the Israeli-controlled part of the
Golan Heights, but denied a Syrian claim that Syrian forces shot
down two Israeli aircraft.
(AP, 9/13/16)

2016 Sep 17, Israel's Iron Dome
missile defence system destroyed two rockets fired from Syria at the
Israeli-held zone of the Golan Heights in an apparent rise in
tension between the uneasy neighbors.
(AFP, 9/17/16)

2016 Sep 18, The Syrian
military said one of its war planes had been downed in the eastern
city of Deir al-Zor during an operation against Islamic state, where
the militant group has been under intense air strikes in the past 24
hours.
(Reuters, 9/18/16)
2016 Sep 18, Moscow said air
strikes by a US-led coalition on the Syrian army threatened the
implementation of a US-Russian ceasefire plan for Syria and bordered
on connivance with Islamic State.
(Reuters, 9/18/16)

2016 Sep 19, Syria's armed
forces announced an end to the week-long ceasefire brokered by the
United States and Russia, blaming rebel groups for its failure. Two
20-truck aid convoys destined for eastern Aleppo with enough
supplies to feed 185,000 people for a month are still stuck in
Turkey hours after a ceasefire in Syria expired.
(AFP, 9/19/16)(Reuters, 9/19/16)

2016 Sep 19, In Syria a raid on
an aid convoy destroyed at least 18 of 31 vehicles, as well as a Red
Crescent warehouse in Orum al-Kubra in Aleppo province. 20 civilians
were reported killed in the attack.
(AFP, 9/20/16)(AP, 9/20/16)

2016 Sep 20, The United Nations
suspended all aid shipments into Syria after what it said was a
deadly attack on an aid convoy carrying humanitarian supplies.
(Reuters, 9/20/16)

2016 Sep 21, Syria’s President
Bashar Assad rejected US accusations that Syrian or Russian planes
struck an aid convoy in Aleppo or that his troops were preventing
food from entering the city's rebel-held eastern neighborhoods,
blaming the US for the collapse of a cease-fire many had hoped would
bring relief to the war-ravaged country.
(AP, 9/22/16)
2016 Sep 21, A Syrian warplane
crashed north of Damascus, but it was unclear if it had been shot
down or came down because of a technical fault. Islamic State
militants said in an online statement that the plane had been shot
down.
(Reuters, 9/21/16)
2016 Sep 21, In Syria dozens of
air strikes battered Aleppo and its outskirts overnight. An
airstrike killed 5 medics responding to an earlier bombing raid on
the rebel-held town of Khan Touman, a day after an airstrike on a
humanitarian convoy prompted the UN to suspend desperately needed
aid deliveries.
(AFP, 9/21/16)(AP, 9/21/16)

2016 Sep 22, In Syria warplanes
mounted the heaviest air strikes in months against rebel-held
districts of the city of Aleppo overnight, as Russia and the Syrian
government spurned a US plea to halt flights, burying any hope for
the revival of a doomed ceasefire.
(Reuters, 9/22/16)
2016 Sep 22, In Syria Yaacoub
al-Ammar, a "minister" in the opposition government, was among at
least 12 people killed in a car bomb attack in Daraa province.
(AFP, 9/22/16)
2016 Sep 22, In Turkey six
people were wounded when a rocket fired from an area of Syria under
the control of Islamic State hit the border town of Kilis.
(Reuters, 9/22/16)

2016 Sep 23, In Syria missiles
rained down on rebel-held areas of Aleppo causing widespread
destruction, as the army prepared a ground offensive to retake the
city. At least 27 civilians including several children were reported
killed and dozens wounded in the raids by Russian warplanes and
regime aircraft.
(AFP, 9/23/16)(SFC, 9/24/16, p.A2)

2016 Sep 24, It was reported
that war crimes investigators collecting evidence of the Islamic
State group's elaborate operation to kidnap thousands of women as
sex slaves say they have a case to try IS leaders with crimes
against humanity but cannot get US or global backing to bring
current detainees before an international tribunal.
(AP, 9/24/16)
2016 Sep 24, Syrian government
forces captured a rebel-held area on the edge of Aleppo. A
monitoring group said 49 people were killed. The UN said nearly 2
million people in Aleppo are without running water following an
escalation in fighting over the past few days.
(AP, 9/24/16)

2016 Sep 25, Syrian and Russian
warplanes bombed a strategic camp on the northern edge of Aleppo as
government and rebel forces battled for control of the high ground
in a Russian-backed offensive that has left Washington's Syria
policy in tatters.
(Reuters, 9/25/16)(AFP, 9/25/16)

2016 Sep 27, Syrian government
forces captured a central rebel-held neighborhood in Aleppo. The
Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said 11 people
were killed in airstrikes on eastern Aleppo, and that insurgents
shelled the nearby government-held villages of Nubal and Zahraa,
killing a baby girl.
(AP, 9/27/16)

2016 Sep 28, Syrian government
shelling and airstrikes in eastern rebel-held Aleppo landed near a
bread distribution center and two hospitals, killing 7 people and
putting at least one of the medical facilities completely out of
service.
(AP, 9/28/16)

2016 Sep 29, The United Nations
described a desperate situation in Syria's rebel-held eastern
Aleppo, warning "hundreds" needed medical evacuation and that there
was only enough food aid left for a quarter of the city's
population.
(AFP, 9/29/16)

2016 Sep 30, The Syrian Civil
Defense group and a Syrian monitoring group reported that airstrikes
on rebel-held neighborhoods in Aleppo have killed at least 12
people. The World Health Organization said fighting in Syria's
besieged eastern Aleppo has killed 338 people since Sept. 23,
including 106 children, and that 846 have been wounded, including
261 children.
(AP, 9/30/16)(Reuters, 9/30/16)

2016 Oct 2, Syrian government
and allied forces advanced north of Aleppo, pressing their week-old
offensive to take the insurgent-held, eastern part of the city after
dozens of overnight air strikes.
(Reuters, 10/2/16)
2016 Oct 2, In northern Syria
at least 21 Syrian rebels fighting alongside Turkish troops against
the Islamic State were killed by landmines laid by the jihadist
group.
(AFP, 10/3/16)

2016 Oct 3, In Syria two
suicide bombings struck the central city of Hama killing two people
and wounding at least 12. The Islamic State claimed responsibility
for the attacks.
(AP, 10/3/16)
2016 Oct 3, Turkish military
officials said 15 Syrian opposition fighters were killed and about
35 wounded over the last 24 hours in fighting to capture seven
residential districts south of the town of al-Rai.
(AP, 10/3/16)

2016 Oct 4, Rebels said they
had repelled a Syrian army offensive in southern Aleppo as Russian
and Syrian warplanes continued to pound residential areas in
besieged parts of the city where thousands of civilians are trapped.
25 deaths in government-held west Aleppo were documented as a result
of rebel shelling.
(Reuters, 10/4/16)
2016 Oct 4, The United Nations
High Commissioner for Human Rights warned Russia over use of
incendiary weapons in air strikes on the Syrian city of Aleppo,
where he said attacks on civilian targets may amount to crimes
against humanity.
(Reuters, 10/4/16)

2016 Oct 5, Syria’s military
said it would scale back its bombardment of Aleppo to allow
civilians to evacuate besieged rebel-held neighborhoods.
(SFC, 10/6/16, p.A4)

2016 Oct 6, Syria’s President
Bashar al-Assad said his forces would recapture all of Syria,
including Aleppo, in a television interview with Denmark's TV 2, but
added he would prefer to do so using local deals and amnesties that
would allow rebels to leave for other areas.
(Reuters, 10/6/16)

2016 Oct 7, Russia's lower
house of parliament ratified a treaty with Syria that allows the
Russian military to stay indefinitely in the Mideast country.
(AP, 10/7/16)

2016 Oct 8, Syrian government
forces recaptured territory from insurgents in several western areas
as the UN Security Council prepared to vote on rival French and
Russian draft resolutions urging an immediate ceasefire. Islamic
State militants captured several villages from Syrian rebels in a
counter-attack near the Turkish border that forced the
foreign-backed insurgents to retreat.
(Reuters, 10/8/16)

2016 Oct 10, Russia's defence
ministry said that the country was poised to transform its naval
facility in the Syrian port city of Tartus into a permanent base.
(AFP, 10/10/16)

2016 Oct 11, In Syria regime
ally Russia carried out its heaviest strikes in days on Aleppo. The
Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said 12 people, among them four
children, were killed in raids in the Bustan al-Qasr and Fardos
neighborhoods. At least five children were killed in rebel fire on a
school in the southern city of Daraa.
(AFP, 10/11/16)

2016 Oct 12, In Syria rebels
supported by Turkish tanks and US-led coalition air strikes pushed
toward the Islamic State stronghold of Dabiq. Turkey’s military said
clashes and air strikes over the past 24 hours have killed 47
jihadists. An airstrike hit the biggest market on the rebel-held
side of Aleppo, killing at least 15 people and leveling buildings.
Shelling on government-held parts of Aleppo killed 8 people.
(Reuters, 10/12/16)(AP, 10/12/16)(Reuters,
10/13/16)

2016 Oct 14, The Syrian
Observatory for Human Rights, a British-based monitor, said Russian
and Syrian warplanes again pounded Aleppo’s opposition-controlled
eastern districts, though it did not have any immediate information
on casualties.
(AFP, 10/14/16)
2016 Oct 14, Russian President
Vladimir Putin ratified an agreement with the Syrian government that
allows Russia to use the Hmeimim air base in Syria indefinitely.
(Reuters, 10/14/16)

2016 Oct 16, In Syria
Turkish-backed Syrian opposition forces captured the town of Dabiq
from the Islamic State group as government forces reversed recent
rebel advances in the center of the country.
(AP, 10/16/16)

2016 Oct 18, Russian Defense
Minister Sergei Shoigu said airstrikes in Syria were to be suspended
starting from 10 a.m. today. He said the suspension is intended to
prepare for the opening of humanitarian corridors for the rebels to
leave Aleppo.
(AP, 10/18/16)

2016 Oct 19, In Syria a pause
in Russian and Syrian strikes on Aleppo held into a second day,
ahead of a brief ceasefire aimed at allowing civilians and rebels to
quit the devastated city. Around 620 rebels and their families began
evacuating the besieged town of Moadamiyat al-Sham, southwest of
Damascus, under a deal with the government.
(AFP, 10/19/16)

2016 Oct 20, The Syrian
military said a unilateral ceasefire backed by Russia had come into
force to allow people to leave eastern Aleppo, a move rejected by
rebels who say they are preparing a counter-offensive to break the
blockade. Russia has told the United Nations it will stop bombing
eastern Aleppo for 11 hours a day for four days.
(Reuters, 10/20/16)

2016 Oct 22, Turkey's Pres.
Recep Tayyip Erdogan said the country will be expanding its
operations in north Syria, including entering the cities of al-Bab,
Manbij and Raqqa.
(AP, 10/22/16)

2016 Oct 23, A leading northern
Syrian rebel coalition warned civilians in Aleppo to stay away from
government positions around the contested city as rebels and
pro-government forces clashed along the city's outskirts. Clashes
and air strikes shook Aleppo, as heavy fighting resumed after the
end of a 3-day ceasefire.
(AP, 10/23/16)(AFP, 10/23/16)

2016 Oct 24, Syrian government
forces and their allies captured strategic high ground in embattled
Aleppo as Russia — a key ally of Syrian President Bashar Assad —
said it was not planning more "humanitarian pauses" in the fighting
in the city's eastern, rebel-held districts. 16 civilians, including
three children, were killed in heavy bombardment across rebel-held
Idlib province.
(AP, 10/24/16)(AFP, 10/24/16)

2016 Oct 26, In Syria
airstrikes killed 28 people, including 22 children, when warplanes
struck a residential area housing the Haas village school complex in
the rebel-held province of Idlib. Human Rights Watch said improvised
land mines planted by the Islamic State group have killed and
wounded hundreds of civilians, including dozens of children, in
Manbij, a town recently freed of the militants.
(AP, 10/26/16)(Reuters, 10/27/16)(SFC, 10/28/16,
p.A6)(SFC, 3/15/17, p.A2)

2016 Oct 27, In Syria at least
8 people were killed in government shelling on Douma, a rebel-held
suburb Damascus. At least 6 children were killed and 15 injured in
rebel rocket attacks in the government-held west of Aleppo city.
(AP, 10/27/16)(AFP, 10/27/16)
2016 Oct 27, EU governments put
10 more people under sanctions over the crisis in Syria, targeting
high-ranking military officials and senior figures linked to
President Bashar al-Assad.
(Reuters, 10/27/16)

2016 Oct 28, Syrian rebels
including jihadists began a counter-attack against the army and its
allies aiming to break a weeks-long siege on eastern Aleppo. The
Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a British-based war monitor,
said more than 15 civilians had been killed and 100 wounded by rebel
shelling of government-held western Aleppo.
(Reuters, 10/28/16)

2016 Oct 29, Syrian government
forces launched a counteroffensive under the cover of airstrikes in
an attempt to regain control of areas they had lost to insurgents
the day before in Aleppo as insurgents launched a fresh offensive on
the city.
(AP, 10/29/16)

2016 Oct 30, Syrian rebels
opened a new front in Aleppo as fighting spread on the third day of
a major insurgent counter-attack to break the government's siege of
the opposition-held part of the city, and each side accused the
other using poison gas. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said
at least 38 people including 14 children had been killed in rebel
shelling of government-held areas of Aleppo in the last 48 hours.
(Reuters, 10/30/16)

2016 Oct 31, Syria's army said
the Nusra Front and what the army called other terrorist groups had
killed 84 people, mostly women and children, in Aleppo during the
past three days, in a bombardment that included chemical weapons and
rocket fire.
(Reuters, 10/31/16)

2016 Nov 2, It was reported
that Belgium's immigration minister is refusing to grant
humanitarian visas to a family in the besieged Syrian city of Aleppo
despite being fined 4,000 euros ($4,438) a day for defying an appeal
tribunal.
(AP, 11/2/16)
2016 Nov 2, Moscow declared a
10-hour humanitarian truce in the war-ravaged city of Aleppo.
Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Russia seeks "honest
cooperation" for a political solution in Syria -- "the sooner the
better". Russia said it would extend the moratorium to Nov 4.
(AFP, 11/2/16)(SFC, 11/3/16, p.A2)

2016 Nov 3, Syrian rebel
factions fought each other in besieged eastern Aleppo, potentially
undermining their efforts to fend off a major Russian-backed
offensive. Syrian TV said civilian deaths from rebel attacks on
western Aleppo has risen to 12.
(Reuters, 11/3/16)(AP, 11/3/16)
2016 Nov 3, Avi Dichter, the
former head of Israel's domestic intelligence agency, said Iran now
commands a force of around 25,000 Shi'ite Muslim militants in Syria,
mostly made up of recruits from Afghanistan and Pakistan.
(Reuters, 11/3/16)
2016 Nov 3, Moscow declared a
10-hour humanitarian truce in the war-ravaged city of Aleppo.
Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Russia seeks "honest
cooperation" for a political solution in Syria -- "the sooner the
better". Russia said it would extend the moratorium to Nov 4.
(AFP, 11/2/16)(SFC, 11/3/16, p.A2)

2016 Nov 4, In Syria two
Russian soldiers and a Syrian journalist were injured in Aleppo when
mortar rounds struck one of the exit corridors designated for the
evacuation of rebels and residents from the eastern besieged part of
the city during a temporary halt in fighting announced by Russia.
(AP, 11/4/16)

2016 Nov 6, In Syria at least
six children were killed in government shelling that hit a
kindergarten in the rebel-held town of Harasta outside Damascus.
(AFP, 11/6/16)
2016 Nov 6, The Syrian
Democratic Forces (SDF), a Kurdish-Arab militia, announced an
offensive to eject the Islamic State from Raqqa.
(Econ, 11/12/16, p.47)

2016 Nov 7, In Syria
Kurdish-led Syrian fighters clashed with Islamic State militants
north of the city of Raqqa as they pushed ahead in their offensive
aiming to retake the city that has been the de facto capital of the
extremist group since 2014.
(AP, 11/7/16)

2016 Nov 8, The Syrian army
said it had taken a strategic district of Aleppo in what would mark
the most important advance in the divided city by Damascus and its
allies in weeks. At least seven children and two pregnant women were
killed in an air strike on the town of Khan Sheikun in the rebel
stronghold province of Idlib.
(Reuters, 11/8/16)(AFP, 11/8/16)
2016 Nov 8, Iraqi Kurdish
forces seized the town of Bashiqa near Mosul from the Islamic State
group. About five percent of the town remained under jihadist
control. US-backed militia forces advanced on the jihadists' Syrian
stronghold Raqa.
(AFP, 11/8/16)

2016 Nov 9, In Iraq and Syria
US-backed forces pressed offensives on the Islamic State group's
strongholds. An air strike by the American-led coalition reportedly
killed 20 civilians in the village of Heisha near the Syrian city of
Raqa (Raqqa).
(AFP, 11/9/16)(AP, 11/9/16)
2016 Nov 9, The Israeli
military said it has struck a Syrian army artillery position after a
rocket from Syria hit the Israeli-controlled part of the Golan
Heights.
(AP, 11/9/16)

2016 Nov 13, In northern Syria
at least 11 children were among 23 people killed as pro-government
forces kept up their campaign against opposition areas.
(SFC, 11/14/16, p.A2)

2016 Nov 15, In Syria Russia
launched new air strikes involving carrier-borne jets and long range
missiles in rebel-held districts of eastern Aleppo after a
weeks-long pause. Activists said between 4 and 10 people were killed
in the strikes on Aleppo.
(Reuters, 11/15/16)(SFC, 11/16/16, p.A3)
2016 Nov 15, Russia launched
coordinated missile strikes against rebels in Syria and Moscow for
the first time used its only aircraft carrier in combat.
(Reuters, 11/15/16)

2016 Nov 16, Syrian government
and Russian warplanes pounded rebel-held parts of northern Syria,
including battered second city Aleppo, where food aid rations were
all-but-exhausted after months of regime siege. At least 54 people
were killed in air strikes and artillery shelling across northern
Syria. An airstrike in Batbo village, Aleppo province, killed at
least 18 people, including six women.
(AFP, 11/16/16)(AP, 11/16/16)(SFC, 11/17/16,
p.A4)

2016 Nov 17, The Syrian
Observatory for Human Rights monitoring group said government air
strikes and shelling killed 25 civilians in eastern districts of
Aleppo, on the third day of a wide-ranging regime assault on
rebel-held areas. At least 13 people were killed and dozens were
injured by a car bomb which targeted a building used by a rebel
group in the northern town of Azaz near the Turkish border.
(AFP, 11/17/16)(Reuters, 11/17/16)

2016 Nov 17-2016 Dec 30, Syrian
government forces carried out at least eight chemical attacks during
the final weeks of the battle for Aleppo, killing nine people.
(AFP, 2/13/17)

2016 Nov 18, Syrian rebels
fought fiercely with pro-government forces as they tried to advance
into opposition-held areas of eastern Aleppo. Warplanes kept up
their bombardment of the area in a renewed bid by Damascus to retake
the entire city. Airstrikes that hit four hospitals in east Aleppo.
(Reuters, 11/18/16)(AP, 11/19/16)
2016 Nov 18, The UN Security
Council extended for one year an international inquiry to determine
blame for chemical weapons attacks in Syria, paving the way for a
showdown between Russia and Western powers over how to punish those
responsible.
(Reuters, 11/18/16)

2016 Nov 19, In northern Syria
government bombardment of besieged rebel-held neighborhoods in
Aleppo killed at least 27 people, a day after the health directorate
said all hospitals in opposition areas have been knocked out of
service.
(AP, 11/19/16)(AFP, 11/19/16)
2016 Nov 19, A Turkish soldier
was killed and two others wounded in a bomb attack by Islamic State
militants near the northern Syrian city of al-Bab.
(AP, 11/20/16)

2016 Nov 20, The Syrian
government refused a UN proposal to grant the rebel-held eastern
districts of Aleppo autonomy in order to restore calm to the
war-torn city. Fresh fighting in Aleppo killed at least eight
schoolchildren. A barrel bomb killed a family of six in the
rebel-held area.
(AP, 11/20/16)(AFP, 11/20/16)(Reuters, 11/20/16)

2016 Nov 22, Syria's army
announced the formation of a new corps of volunteers to fight
alongside its soldiers and allies against opponents of President
Bashar al-Assad.
(Reuters, 11/22/16)
2016 Nov 22, The head of Iran's
veterans' affairs office said more than 1,000 combatants sent from
Iran to fight in support of President Bashar al-Assad in Syria have
been killed in the conflict.
(AFP, 11/22/16)
2016 Nov 22, Turkish President
Tayyip Erdogan said government-backed forces have besieged the
Islamic State-held Syrian town of al-Bab from the west and have set
their sights on Manbij for their next offensive.
(Reuters, 11/22/16)

2016 Nov 23, Turkish-backed
Syrian opposition forces clashed with Kurdish-led forces in northern
Syria, where both are fighting the Islamic State group.
Kurdish-affiliated forces entered the IS-held town of Arima, near
al-Bab.
(AP, 11/23/16)

2016 Nov 24, Syrian rebels in
besieged east Aleppo agreed to a UN plan for aid delivery and
medical evacuations, but the United Nations still awaited a green
light from Russia and the Syrian government.
(Reuters, 11/24/16)
2016 Nov 24, In northern Syria
three Turkish soldiers were killed in what the military said was a
suspected Syrian air strike. Turkey said it would retaliate.
(Reuters, 11/24/16)

2016 Nov 25, In Syria
airstrikes on the northern village of Taqad killed at least five
people including children. Opposition activists reported intense
airstrikes and shelling on the besieged rebel-held eastern
neighborhoods of Aleppo amid fighting on several fronts. Air strikes
in Idlib province knocked out two medical centers dedicated to women
and killed at least 12 people.
(AP, 11/25/16)(SFC, 11/26/16, p.A2)
2016 Nov 25, Turkish media
reported one soldier killed and five lightly wounded in the fight
against the Islamic State group in al-Bab, northern Syria. Four
opposition fighters were also reported killed in the clashes.
(AP, 11/25/16)

2016 Nov 26, The Syrian army
said troops have captured a neighborhood in Aleppo days after the
government resumed its offensive on the besieged rebel-held eastern
part of the city. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said an
agreement to start evacuating rebels and their weapons from
rebel-held Khan al-Shih will start to be implemented. Another
agreement was reached to evacuate rebels from al-Tal.
(AP, 11/26/16)(Reuters, 11/26/16)
2016 Nov 26, Turkey's state-run
news agency said a Turkish soldier was killed and three wounded in
an attack during an anti-IS operation in north Syria, raising to
five the number of Turkish troops killed in Syria this week. Turkish
warplanes destroyed 12 Islamic State targets during the offensive.
(AP, 11/26/16)(Reuters, 11/26/16)

2016 Nov 27, In Syria hundreds
of residents of rebel-held eastern Aleppo fled shifting frontlines,
after an advance by the Syrian army and allied forces. A
vehicle-borne bomb killed several people in the northern town of
al-Rai, an area under the control of Turkey-backed rebels. Rebels
handed in their heavy weapons in Khan al-Shih, a town southwest of
Damascus, as part of a deal they have made with the government to
get safe passage to insurgent-controlled areas.
(Reuters, 11/27/16)
2016 Nov 27, Israeli aircraft
struck a machine gun-mounted vehicle inside, killing four Islamic
State-affiliated militants after they had opened fire on a military
patrol on the Israeli side of the Golan Heights.
(AP, 11/27/16)
2016 Nov 27, The Turkish army
said 22 pro-Ankara Syrian rebels were hit by an Islamic State (IS)
gas attack east of Al Rai in northern Syria, the first time Turkey
has accused the jihadists of chemical warfare.
(AFP, 11/27/16)

2016 Nov 28, The Syrian army
and its allies announced the capture of a swathe of eastern Aleppo
from rebels in an accelerating attack that threatens to crush the
opposition in its most important urban stronghold.
(Reuters, 11/28/16)

2016 Nov 29, In Syria renewed
airstrikes killed at least 20 civilians as they fled government
advances in the eastern part of Aleppo. The United Nations said up
to 16,000 people have already been displaced in recent days of
fighting.
(AP, 11/29/16)
2016 Nov 29, Russian government
officials said they plan to send 100,000 tons of wheat in
humanitarian aid to Syria this year.
(Reuters, 11/29/16)

2016 Nov 30, Syrian government
forces and their allies clashed with rebels in southeast Aleppo, as
Damascus and its allies tried to build on major gains in the city.
Regime artillery fire killed at least 26 civilians in east Aleppo.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said more than 50,000 people
have fled Aleppo's rebel-held districts, including at least 20,000
to government-held territory and another 30,000 to
Kurdish-controlled districts.
(Reuters, 11/30/16)(AFP, 11/30/16)

2016 Nov, The UN estimated that
about 8,000 rebels were in Aleppo, Syria.
(Econ, 11/19/16, p.41)

2016 Dec 1, Elite Syrian troops
moved into east Aleppo ahead of a push into the most densely
populated areas, as regime ally Russia called for corridors to bring
in aid and evacuate wounded. Aleppo rebels said they have agreed to
form a new military alliance to better organize the defense of parts
of the city they control from a ferocious assault by the government
and its allies.
(AFP, 12/1/16)

2016 Dec 2, In Syria rebels put
up fierce resistance in a key district of Aleppo, where a regime
offensive has left bodies in the streets and sparked global outrage.
Rebel fire on west Aleppo killed 9 people.
(AFP, 12/2/16)(AFP, 12/3/16)
2016 Dec 2, Syrian intelligence
officials returned the emaciated and abused dead body of Ibrahim
al-Ahmad (25) to his family saying the man, missing for four years,
had died of a heart attack.
(Econ, 12/24/16, p.75)
2016 Dec 2, The UN said nearly
20,000 children have fled their homes in battered east Aleppo in
recent days, warning that time is running out to provide them with
the help they desperately need.
(AFP, 12/2/16)

2016 Dec 3, Syria's army
advanced deeper into east Aleppo. The government has now recaptured
around 60 percent of eastern parts of the city. Three people were
killed in air strikes on Shaar. Five people were killed by rebel
fire on west Aleppo.
(AFP, 12/3/16)

2016 Dec 4, In Syria suspected
Russian air strikes killed at least 46 people in opposition-held
parts, as government forces advanced in fierce clashes with rebels
in east Aleppo.
(AFP, 12/4/16)
2016 Dec 4, A coalition air
strike in Raqa, Syria, killed three Islamic State leaders involved
in plotting foreign attacks. Salah-Eddine Gourmat and Sammy Djedou
-- were involved in facilitating the November 13, 2015 Paris
attacks, in which 130 people died. Walid Hamman was a suicide-attack
planner who was convicted in absentia in Belgium for a terror plot
disrupted in 2015.
(AFP, 12/13/16)

2016 Dec 6, Syrian government
forces and allied militias captured Aleppo's centrally located
al-Shaar neighborhood from rebels as the government and its ally
Russia rejected a cease-fire for the war-torn city.
(AP, 12/6/16)

2016 Dec 7, In Syria rebels in
Aleppo called for a five-day truce and the evacuation of civilians
after losing more territory including the Old City to a Syrian army
offensive. The leaders of six major Western nations called for an
immediate ceasefire in Aleppo and condemned Russia and Iran for
supporting the Syrian government.
(AFP, 12/7/16)(Reuters, 12/7/16)

2016 Dec 8, The Syrian army's
advance in Aleppo slowed but a victory was still firmly in sight
after President Bashar al-Assad vowed that retaking the nation's
second city would change the course of the six-year civil war in his
favor.
(Reuters, 12/8/16)
2016 Dec 8, Doctors Without
Borders said 70 severely wounded Syrians, including 16 children,
have been blocked from life-saving treatment since Jordan closed its
border with Syria six months ago and that some have likely died.
(AP, 12/8/16)

2016 Dec 9, Syrian warplanes
launched fresh raids on the last rebel-held districts in Aleppo, as
key regime ally Russia vowed the assault would continue until
opposition fighters left the battleground city. The UN human rights
office said hundreds of men from eastern Aleppo have gone missing
after leaving rebel-held areas.
(AFP, 12/9/16)(Reuters, 12/9/16)
2016 Dec 9, The Islamic State
seized more territory from Syrian government forces near the ancient
city of Palmyra in fierce clashes that raged for a second day. 49
Syrian soldiers were reported killed in the IS advance near Palmyra.
(Reuters, 12/9/16)(AP, 12/9/16)

2016 Dec 10, In Syria hundreds
more civilians fled what remained of the opposition's enclave in
Aleppo as rebels and government forces exchanged artillery and
mortar fire across the northern city.
(AP, 12/10/16)
2016 Dec 10, Syria's military
and Russian warplanes bombarded rebel-held districts of Aleppo as
Damascus's allies said victory was near, but insurgents fought back
and army advances halted after rapid gains during the week. Hundreds
more civilians fled what remained of the opposition's enclave in
Aleppo.
(Reuters, 12/10/16)(AP, 12/10/16)
2016 Dec 10, Syrian Democratic
Forces (SDF), a US-backed Arab-Kurdish alliance, announced "phase
two" of its campaign for the Islamic State group's bastion of Raqa
as Washington said it was sending 200 more troops to back the
offensive.
(AFP, 12/10/16)
2016 Dec 10, Turkey said its
warplanes have destroyed 39 Islamic State targets and killed four
militants in northern Syria.
(Reuters, 12/10/16)

2016 Dec 11, The Syrian army
and its allies made new gains in Aleppo, forcing rebels back into an
ever shrinking pocket crammed with civilians, but lost control of
the desert city of Palmyra to a swift Islamic State attack. Syria's
state news agency said at least 4,000 people fled Aleppo today. The
state TV channel said more than 70,000 of eastern Aleppo's estimated
275,000 residents have fled in recent days.
(Reuters, 12/11/16)(AP, 12/11/16)

2016 Dec 12, A Syrian military
official in Aleppo said the "operation in eastern neighborhoods is
entering its final phase", as fierce clashes were reported in the
few districts still under rebel control.
(AFP, 12/12/16)
2016 Dec 12, The Syrian
Observatory for Human Rights said there had been a suspected gas
attack in Islamic State-held territory near Palmyra, amid heavy
aerial bombardment of the same area which together killed at least
53 people.
(Reuters, 12/12/16)

2016 Dec 13, The UN said Syrian
pro-government forces executed 82 civilians in Aleppo including
women and children as the crucial battle for the city neared its
end.
(AP, 12/13/16)

2016 Dec 14, In Syria a
cease-fire deal between rebels and the government in the city of
Aleppo effectively collapsed, with fighter jets resuming deadly air
raids over the opposition's densely crowded enclave in the east of
the city.
(AP, 12/14/16)

2016 Dec 15, President Bashar
al-Assad congratulated Syrians on the "liberation" of Aleppo, as
civilians and fighters evacuated the last rebel pocket of the city.
(AFP, 12/15/16)
2016 Dec 15, In Syria US-led
coalition aircraft destroyed heavy weaponry seized by Islamic State
jihadists when they retook the city of Palmyra from regime forces
over the weekend.
(AFP, 12/16/16)

2016 Dec 16, In Syria a blast
in the Midan district of Damascus left at least one person dead.
State television said a young girl of about nine years of age blew
herself. The evacuation of eastern Aleppo stalled after an eruption
of gunfire, as the Syrian government and rebels threw accusations at
each other.
(Reuters, 12/16/16)(AP, 12/16/16)

2016 Dec 17, Syrian rebels
blamed Iran and its Shi'ite-backed militias of holding up a deal to
evacuate civilians trapped in the remaining rebel bastion in Aleppo.
Trapped civilians and rebels waited desperately for evacuations to
resume as the Red Cross pleaded for a deal to "save thousands of
lives".
(Reuters, 12/17/16)(AFP, 12/17/16)
2016 Dec 17, Turkey’s military
said its warplanes have pounded Islamic State targets in northern
Syria in the last 24 hours, killing at least 20 militants.
(Reuters, 12/17/16)

2016 Dec 18, In Syria several
buses en route to evacuate ill and injured people from the besieged
villages of al-Foua and Kefraya were attacked and burned.
Evacuations from Aleppo resumed this afternoon.
(Reuters, 12/18/16)

2016 Dec 19, In Syria thousands
were evacuated from the last rebel-held enclave of the Aleppo after
a deal was reached to allow people to leave two besieged
pro-government villages in nearby Idlib province.
(Reuters, 12/19/16)
2016 Dec 19, The UN Security
Council approved the deployment of UN monitors to Aleppo as the
evacuation of fighters and civilians from the last remaining
opposition stronghold in the northern city resumed after days of
delays.
(AP, 12/19/16)

2016 Dec 20, In Syria President
Bashar al-Assad's army closed in on the last rebel enclave in
Aleppo. Russia, Iran and Turkey said they were ready to help broker
a Syrian peace deal. They adopted a document they called the "Moscow
Declaration", which set out the principles that any peace agreement
should follow.
(Reuters, 12/20/16)

2016 Dec 21, In Syria buses
loaded with Syrian civilians have begun leaving the last rebel-held
enclave of eastern Aleppo again, after being stalled for a day.
(Reuters, 12/21/16)
2016 Dec 21, In northern Syria
clashes escalated around the town of al-Bab with Turkish soldiers
and 138 jihadists killed.
(Reuters, 12/24/16)

2016 Dec 22, Russian Defense
Minister Sergei Shoigu said Russian air strikes in Syria have killed
35,000 rebel fighters since the start of operations there and
prevented the collapse of the Syrian state.
(Reuters, 12/22/16)
2016 Dec 22, Turkey's defense
minister said the number of Turkish soldiers killed in recent
attacks by Islamic State militants near the northern Syrian town of
al-Bab has risen to 16, adding that three other soldiers were
seriously wounded. He said a total of 35 Turkish soldiers have been
killed since the start of Turkey-backed rebels' incursion into
northern Syria that began on August 24.
(Reuters, 12/22/16)
2016 Dec 22, The Islamic State
released the video late today which purports to show the burning of
two Turkish soldiers captured near the northern Syrian town of
al-Bab. The two soldiers went missing in the area of al-Dana,
northwest of al-Bab, in late November.
(AP, 12/23/16)

2016 Dec 24, In Syria an
explosion rocked eastern Aleppo as some residents were returning to
their homes after the government assumed full control of the city
earlier this week. Two people were killed in a blast at an
ammunitions warehouse formerly used by rebels. An airstrike on the
town of Atareb, west of Aleppo, killed five people including a man,
his daughter and daughter-in-law.
(AP, 12/24/16)(AFP, 12/24/16)
2016 Dec 24, Turkey’s military
said 68 Islamic State militants have been "neutralized" in fighting
and air strikes near al-Bab over the last 24 hours.
(Reuters, 12/24/16)

2016 Dec 25, In Syria residents
of Damascus faced their third consecutive day of water shortages,
with authorities accusing "terrorist groups" of deliberately
poisoning water resources.
(AFP, 12/25/16)
2016 Dec 25, In Syria at least
30 civilians were killed and many others were wounded after Islamic
State launched an attack in the town of al-Bab to prevent people
from fleeing.
(Reuters, 12/26/16)

2016 Dec 26, In Syria a US
coalition airstrike killed Abu Jandal al-Kuwaiti, a member of
Islamic State's war committee, by the Tabqa Dam, a strategic
objective in Raqqa city.
(Reuters, 12/29/16)
2016 Dec 26, In Germany several
hundred peace activists started what they say will be a months-long
protest march from Berlin to war-ravaged Syria to urge an end to the
fighting there.
(AP, 12/26/16)
2016 Dec 26, Russia’s Defense
Ministry said its troops have found mass graves in Syria’s Aleppo
with bodies showing signs of torture and mutilation.
(SFC, 12/27/16, p.A3)
2016 Dec 26, Saudi Arabia’s
interior minister said more than 2,000 Saudis are fighting abroad
with jihadist groups, with over 70 percent of them in Syria.
(AFP, 12/26/16)

2016 Dec 27, In Syria a
US-backed alliance of militias said it has made unexpectedly rapid
gains against Islamic State near its Syrian headquarters in Raqqa,
advancing to within a few kilometers of a major dam.
(Reuters, 12/27/16)
2016 Dec 27, Russia said that a
US decision to ease restrictions on arming Syrian rebels had opened
the way for deliveries of shoulder-fired anti-aircraft missiles, a
move it said would directly threaten Russian forces in Syria.
(Reuters, 12/27/16)

2016 Dec 28, In eastern Syria
air strikes carried out by unidentified aircraft killed at least 22
civilians, including 10 children, in a village held by the Islamic
State group.
(AFP, 12/28/16)
2016 Dec 28, Turkish state
media said Turkey and Russia have agreed a ceasefire for all of
Syria that should come into force at midnight, but rebel groups said
no such official truce had been agreed.
(AFP, 12/28/16)

2016 Dec 29, Syria's army and
key ally Russia announced a nationwide ceasefire to take effect at
midnight, in a major potential breakthrough after nearly six years
of civil war. The ceasefire did not include Islamic State or the
Kurdish YPG militia.
(AFP, 12/29/16)(Reuters, 12/29/16)
2016 Dec 29, Syrian Kurdish
groups and their allies said they have approved a blueprint for a
system of federal government in northern Syria, reaffirming their
plans for autonomy in areas they have controlled during the civil
war.
(Reuters, 12/29/16)

2016 Dec 30, In western Syria
clashes shelling and air raids marred a Russian- and Turkish-backed
ceasefire. Syrian government warplanes carried out nearly 20 raids
against rebels in several towns along the provincial boundary
between Idlib and Hama. Warplanes and helicopters also struck
northwest of Damascus in the rebel-held Wadi Barada valley, where
government troops and allied forces clashed with rebels.
(Reuters, 12/30/16)
2016 Dec 30, The Turkish
military said Russian fighter jets have hit three Islamic State
targets around the northern Syrian town of al-Bab over the past 24
hours.
(Reuters, 12/30/16)

2016 Dec 31, Syrian rebel
groups threatened to abandon a two-day-old truce if violations
continued, and urged the UN Security Council not to endorse the deal
until the Syrian government and its ally Russia had shown they would
respect it.
(Reuters, 12/31/16)

2016 David Kilcullen authored
“Blood Year: Islamic State and the Failures of the War on Terror."
(Econ, 3/19/16, p.89)
2016 The UN paid at least $18
million this year to companies with close ties to Syria’s Pres.
Bashar Assad.
(SFC, 8/2/17, p.A2)

2017 Jan 1, Syrian government
warplanes resumed their bombardment of the rebel-held Wadi Barada
valley northwest of Damascus after nearly 24 hours with no air
raids. A monitoring group and rebels said Russian- and
Turkish-backed ceasefire largely held in other areas on its third
day.
(Reuters, 1/1/17)
2017 Jan 1, In northwestern
Syria an air raid late today struck several cars killing at least
eight people, including al-Qaida-linked fighters and a senior
commander with a Chinese Islamic militant faction. The dead included
a senior al-Qaida commander known as Khattab al-Qahtani, who was
from the Gulf region and fought for the group in Afghanistan. Abu
Omar al-Turkistani, a top commander with the Turkistan Islamic
Party, and a Syrian al-Qaida commander known as Abu Muatasem
al-Deiri, were also killed.
(AP, 1/2/17)

2017 Jan 5, In Syria the Jabar
citadel on the banks of Lake Assad was taken by the Syrian
Democratic Forces (SDF) alliance.
(Reuters, 1/6/17)
2017 Jan 5, In Syria at least
ten people were killed in a car blast in the coastal province of
Latakia where two Russian bases are located.
(Reuters, 1/5/17)

2017 Jan 6, In Syria an air
strike killed Sheikh Younes Shoueib, a member of Jabhat Fateh
al-Sham group and its shura council, and his son. The group accused
the US-led coalition of carrying out the strike.
(Reuters, 1/6/17)
2017 Jan 6, Lebanese group
Hezbollah said a temporary ceasefire has been agreed in a rebel-held
area near Damascus which Syrian government forces and their allies
are trying to recapture from insurgents.
(Reuters, 1/6/17)
2017 Jan 6, Russia's military
said it has begun scaling down its deployment to Syria, as the
regime intensified its bombardment of a rebel-held district home to
the capital's main water source.
(AFP, 1/6/17)

2017 Jan 7, In Syria at least
48 people were killed when a tanker truck bomb ripped through the
center of a busy commercial district of Azaz, a rebel-held town
along the Turkish border.
(AFP, 1/7/17)

2017 Jan 8, In Syria a car bomb
exploded in a government-held area outside Damascus, killing at
least five people and wounding 15. The al-Qaida-linked Fatah al-Sham
Front claimed the attack.
(AP, 1/8/17)

2017 Jan 10, Gunmen in Syria
abducted Shiraaz Mohamed, a South African freelance photographer who
was traveling with aid workers to the border with Turkey.
(AP, 1/14/17)

2017 Jan 12, The United States
blacklisted 18 senior Syrian officials it said were connected to the
country's weapons of mass destruction program, after an
international investigation found Syrian government forces were
responsible for chlorine gas attacks against civilians.
(Reuters, 1/12/17)

2017 Jan 13, Syria's army and
its allies advanced near Damascus. The region's governor said rebels
had let engineers enter a damaged pumping station that supplies most
of the capital's water.
(Reuters, 1/13/17)
2017 Jan 13, Syria accused
Israel of firing missiles early today that landed near a military
base west of Damascus.
(SFC, 1/14/17, p.A2)

2017 Jan 14, In Syria the
Islamic State group launched one of its fiercest assaults yet on the
besieged city of Deir Ezzor, leaving more than 30 regime fighters
and jihadists dead.
(AFP, 1/14/17)

2017 Jan 15, Syrian government
forces shelled a village in a rebel-controlled area near Damascus,
killing at least 12 civilians and injuring several others who were
taking shelter in a banquet hall. In eastern Syria, Islamic State
group militants kept up their offensive on government-held areas of
the contested city of Deir el-Zour, attacking a military air base
from several fronts.
(AP, 1/15/17)

2017 Jan 16, In Syria the
Islamic State continued its fiercest assault in a year against a
besieged government enclave in the city of Deir al-Zor, trying to
cut it off from a nearby military air base. The Syrian Observatory
for Human Rights said that at least 82 people had been killed.
(Reuters, 1/16/17)

2017 Jan 17, In Syria Russian
warplanes carried out air strikes on Islamic State targets south of
al-Bab in coordination with Turkey.
(Reuters, 1/18/17)
2017 Jan 17, In Iran five
memorandums of understanding were signed at a ceremony attended by
Syrian PM Emad Khamis and Iranian VP Eshaq Jahangiri in Tehran. Iran
will be granted a license to become a mobile service operator in
Syria under agreements to expand economic ties between the
countries.
(Reuters, 1/17/17)

2017 Jan 18, Syria and Russia
signed an agreement allowing Russia to significantly expand its
naval facility in the Mediterranean port of Tartus and keep using it
for 49 years.
(AP, 1/20/17)

2017 Jan 19, In Syria shells
slammed into the city of Aleppo, killing two people as thousands of
government supporters gathered in a main square nearby to celebrate
last month's capture of the city's eastern neighborhoods from
rebels. The Islamic State killed 12 people in Palmyra by shooting
and beheading them.
(AP, 1/19/17)(SFC, 1/20/17, p.A2)
2017 Jan 19, In Syria US
warplanes bombed an al-Qaida training camp killing more than 100
militants in Idlib province.
(SFC, 1/21/17, p.A6)

2017 Jan 20, The Syrian
government and experts said Islamic State militants have destroyed
parts of the second-century Roman amphitheater and an iconic
monument known as the Tetrapylon in the historic town of Palmyra.
(AP, 1/20/17)
2017 Jan 20, In northern Syria
the Islamic State group killed five Turkish soldiers and wounded
nine others in a car bomb attack in the village of Sulfaniyeh, near
Al-Bab.
(AP, 1/20/17)
2017 Jan 20, Germany said its
diplomats have helped broker a ceasefire between the Syrian
government and rebel forces in a mountainous valley near Damascus, a
deal designed to restore water supplies to the capital.
(Reuters, 1/20/17)

2017 Jan 21, In Syria a car
bomb blast killed at least seven civilians at the Rukban camp for
displaced Syrians by the border with Jordan.
(AFP, 1/21/17)(SSFC, 1/22/17, p.A4)
2017 Jan 21, In Syria six
Russian warplanes carried out airstrikes on Islamic State targets in
Syrian province of Deir ez-Zor.
(Reuters, 1/21/17)

2017 Jan 23, In Syria Russian
jets pounded Islamic State in the eastern province of Deir al-Zor,
seeking to thwart a full-blown assault by the militants against the
last district in the region still held by the Damascus government.
(Reuters, 1/23/17)
2017 Jan 23, In Syria Fatah
al-Sham fighters surrounded the offices in Idlib province belonging
to one of the rebel groups that had sent representatives to Astana,
the US-backed Jaish al-Mujadeen, and hours later, forced its
fighters to surrender. The fighting quickly escalated to include
other groups, leading to fierce clashes between Fatah al-Sham and
more moderate factions.
(AP, 2/6/17)
2017 Jan 23, In Kazakhstan
indirect 2-day talks began in Astana between the Syrian government
and rebels. The talks were hosted by Russia, Turkey and Iran.
(Reuters, 1/23/17)(Econ, 1/28/17, p.39)

2017 Jan 24, In northwest Syria
heavy fighting erupted between the jihadist group Jabhat Fateh
al-Sham and Free Syrian Army factions who were represented at the
Astana talks.
(Reuters, 1/24/17)
2017 Jan 24, In Kazakhstan
Russia, Turkey and Iran backed a shaky truce between Syria's warring
parties and agreed to monitor its compliance. On the ground rebels
faced continued fighting on two fronts, which could undermine the
deal.
(Reuters, 1/24/17)
2017 Jan 24, The Russian
military says its bombers have struck Islamic State positions in the
province of Deir el-Zour in the third such raid in four days.
(AP, 1/24/17)
2017 Jan 24, Turkey said it
would not hand over al-Bab to Syrian forces after driving out
Islamic State. The Turkish-backed rebels are closer to doing so than
the Syrian army, having already reached the town's outskirts.
(Reuters, 1/25/17)

2017 Jan 25, Syrian government
forces and their allies drove Islamic State militants out of several
villages northeast of Aleppo over the last 24 hours. One Turkish
soldier was killed and five were wounded in a clash with Islamic
State militants near al-Bab.
(Reuters, 1/25/17)
2017 Jan 25, In Syria six
long-range Russian bombers struck Islamic State targets in Deir
al-Zor province.
(Reuters, 1/25/17)

2017 Jan 26, Syrian Islamist
rebel group Ahrar al-Sham said six other rebel factions had joined
its ranks in northwestern Syria in order to fend off a major assault
by a powerful jihadist group. Fateh al-Sham, once allied with al
Qaeda and formerly known as the Nusra Front clashed with fighters
from Ahrar al-Sham and Suqour al-Sham in the northern rebel
stronghold of Idlib province.
(Reuters, 1/26/17)

2017 Jan 28, Syria's army
entered Ain al-Fijeh, a key water pumping station outside the
capital, for the first time in four years after a deal with rebels.
(AFP, 1/28/17)
2017 Jan 28, Several Syrian
Islamist factions including al Qaeda's former branch in the country
said they were joining forces, as clashes between jihadists and more
moderate rebels raged on in northwestern areas.
(Reuters, 1/28/17)

2017 Jan 29, Syrian
state-controlled TV said rebels have begun to evacuate Barada Valley
as part of an agreement to surrender the capital region's primary
water source to government control.
(AP, 1/29/17)
2017 Jan 29, In northern Syria
a Turkish soldier was killed in clashes with Islamic State militants
near al-Bab.
(Reuters, 1/29/17)
2017 Jan 29, President Trump
and Saudi Arabia's King Salman came to an agreement to support safe
zones in Syria and Yemen while strengthening efforts to fight the
spread of Islamic terrorism.
(CSM, 1/30/17)

2017 Jan 30, Syria warned of
safe zones for civilians that US President Donald Trump has
expressed interest in creating, saying it would have to come in
coordination with the Syrian government, otherwise it would be
unsafe and violate the Arab nation's sovereignty.
(AP, 1/30/17)
2017 Jan 30, In Syria six
long-range Russian bombers launched an air strike against Islamic
State positions in Deir al-Zor province, destroying two command
points and several arms storehouses.
(Reuters, 1/30/17)

2017 Jan 31, A US official
confirmed that the United States has provided Syrian fighters
battling the Islamic State group with armored vehicles for the first
time. A US-backed alliance of Syrian militias said it saw signs of
increased US support for their campaign against Islamic State with
President Donald Trump in office, a shift that would heighten
Turkish worries over Kurdish power in Syria.
(AFP, 1/31/17)(Reuters, 1/31/17)

2017 Feb 1, In Syria air
strikes hit Red Crescent offices in the northwestern city of Idlib
after midnight, injuring several staff and causing extensive damage.
(Reuters, 2/1/17)

2017 Feb 2, Syria's military
said it had captured a string of towns and part of a key highway
from the Islamic State group in the northern province of Aleppo.
(AFP, 2/2/17)
2017 Feb 2, The US military
said 11 civilians were killed in four separate air strikes by the
US-led coalition fighting Islamic State in Iraq and Syria between
Oct. 25 and Dec. 9.
(Reuters, 2/2/17)

2017 Feb 4, In Syria an
alliance of US-backed Kurdish-led militias started a new phase of
its campaign against the Islamic State-held city of Raqqa, aiming to
complete its encirclement and sever the road to militant strongholds
in Deir al-Zor province.
(Reuters, 2/4/17)(SSFC, 2/5/17, p.A4)
2017 Feb 4, The Turkish
military said it has hit 59 Islamic State targets and killed 51
militants in northern Syria as part of its ongoing incursion.
(Reuters, 2/4/17)

2017 Feb 6, Syrian government
forces advanced on the northern Islamic State-held city of al-Bab,
cutting off the last supply route that connects it to militant
strongholds further east towards Iraq.
(Reuters, 2/6/17)

2017 Feb 7, In Syria air
strikes on Al-Qaeda's former affiliate killed 26 people including 16
civilians in Idlib city. The headquarters of Fateh al-Sham Front and
the surrounding neighborhood were battered by at least 10 strikes at
dawn.
(AFP, 2/7/17)
2017 Feb 7, Amnesty
International accused Syria's government of hanging up to 13,000
people at a notorious prison over five years in a "policy of
extermination", between 2011 and 2015. The damning report was titled
"Human Slaughterhouse: Mass hanging and extermination at Saydnaya
prison".
(AFP, 2/7/17)

2017 Feb 8, Syrian government
jets bombed a rebel-held district of Homs city in the west of the
country, killing at least nine people.
(Reuters, 2/8/17)(AP, 2/8/17)
2017 Feb 8, Turkey said Syrian
rebels backed by the Turkish military have captured the outskirts of
the Islamic State-held city of al-Bab in northern Syria.
(Reuters, 2/8/17)
2017 Feb 8, Turkish presidency
sources said President Tayyip Erdogan and US President Donald Trump
agreed in an overnight phone call on joint action against Islamic
State in the Syrian towns of Raqqa and al-Bab, both held by the
militants.
(Reuters, 2/8/17)

2017 Feb 9, In northern Syria a
Russian warplane "accidentally" hit a building on with Turkish
soldiers inside, killing at least three troops and wounding 11 near
al-Bab. Russia intervened to halt a clash between Syrian government
forces and Turkey-backed Syrian rebels, the first confrontation
between them as both sides fight Islamic State in the area.
(AP, 2/9/17)(Reuters, 2/10/17)

2017 Feb 11, In northern Syria
Turkish troops and Syrian rebels entered the Islamic State-held town
of Al-Bab, as government forces moved closer to the jihadist
bastion. one Turkish soldier was killed and another wounded in
clashes with IS fighters.
(AFP, 2/11/17)

2017 Feb 12, Syria's opposition
announced its 21-member delegation, including 10 rebel
representatives, for a new round of UN-sponsored peace talks in
Geneva scheduled for February 20.
(AFP, 2/12/17)
2017 Feb 12, Turkey's president
said his troops and allied Syrian fighters have reached the heart of
the Islamic State stronghold of al-Bab in northern Syria and will
eventually march on the extremists' de facto capital, Raqqa.
(AP, 2/12/17)

2017 Feb 13, Syrian jihadists
seen as close to Islamic State battled a rival hardline Islamist
faction in northwestern Syria.
(Reuters, 2/13/17)

2017 Feb 14, In northwestern
Syria two days of fighting left 69 fighters dead, including 39 from
the Levant Liberation Committee and 30 dead from Jund al-Aqsa,
including four suicide attackers who blew up vehicles that they were
driving.
(AP, 2/14/17)
2017 Feb 14, Turkish PM Binali
Yildirim said Turkey-backed rebels have largely taken control of
Syria's al-Bab from Islamic State militants, but a war monitoring
group said the jihadists still controlled most of the town.
(Reuters, 2/14/17)

2017 Feb 16, In Syria four
Russian servicemen were killed when they their vehicle was struck by
a roadside in the center of the country. The loss raised the total
Russian combat casualties so far in Syria's war to 27.
(AP, 2/20/17)
2017 Feb 16, In Kazakhstan
Syrian government officials sat face-to-face with rebels for the
second time in three weeks, as diplomats stepped up efforts to lay
the groundwork for UN-brokered peace talks next week.
(AP, 2/16/17)

2017 Feb 17, Turkey's military
said it was close to taking Syria's al-Bab from Islamic State, but a
war monitor said the jihadists still controlled 90 percent of the
town itself and that shelling and air strikes had killed dozens of
civilians in recent days. Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said
Turkish shelling and air strikes had killed 45 civilians, including
18 children, during the past 48 hours.
(Reuters, 2/17/17)

2017 Feb 18, Syrian warplanes
bombarded a besieged rebel-held district of Homs, killing at least
two people and raising the death toll from nearly two weeks of air
strikes there to more than 20. Warplanes also hit
insurgent-controlled areas in Deraa in southern Syria during a
series of heavy raids over the last day.
(Reuters, 2/18/17)

2017 Feb 18, In northern Syria
a US-backed predominantly Kurdish force captured the village of
Jawees in an ongoing move to close in on the Islamic State de facto
capital of Raqqa.
(SSFC, 2/19/17, p.A2)

2017 Feb 19, Syrian government
forces fired rockets at a rebel-held area on Damascus's outskirts,
pressing an attack that began the day before and has killed up to 16
people.
(Reuters, 2/19/17)

2017 Feb 20, Syrian government
forces escalated their bombing campaign around Damascus, raining
shells down on rebel territory and sending out a "bloody message"
just days before renewed peace talks in Geneva. At least 7 people
were reported killed.
(AFP, 2/20/17)
2017 Feb 20, In northern Syria
11 members of the same family were killed on as Turkey-backed Syrian
rebels advanced on the town of Al-Bab held by Islamic State
jihadists.
(AFP, 2/20/17)

2017 Feb 21, The
Washington-based Syria Institute accused the Syrian government of
depopulating Sunni-majority areas in Homs as it fights to
consolidate its power.
(AP, 2/21/17)

2017 Feb 22, The Syrian army
and its allies took a small district on the outskirts of Aleppo from
rebels.
(Reuters, 2/22/17)

2017 Feb 23, Syrian jets bombed
rebel-held areas of Aleppo, Deraa and Hama provinces and insurgents
fired rockets at government targets, just as peace talks were set to
resume in Geneva.
(Reuters, 2/23/17)
2017 Feb 23, The Syrian
Observatory for Human Rights said IS fighters were still present in
parts of Al-Bab and that rebels were in control of less than half of
it. Turkish-backed Syrian rebels said they had fully captured the
town of Al-Bab from the Islamic State group, marking a key defeat
for the jihadists after weeks of heavy fighting.
(AFP, 2/23/17)
2017 Feb 23, Syrian peace talks
under the auspices of the United Nations resumed in Geneva, 10
months after falling apart over escalating bloodshed in the war-torn
country. The UN's Syria envoy met rival negotiators, but even
getting them into the same room appeared uncertain as hopes remained
slim for a breakthrough.
(AP, 2/23/17)(AFP, 2/23/17)

2017 Feb 24, In Syria an
Islamic State car bomb killed 51 people in the village of Sousian
held by rebels. A second blast took place 2 km south of Sousian
later today.
(Reuters, 2/24/17)(AFP, 2/24/17)
2017 Feb 24, Two Turkish
soldiers were killed while clearing mines in the town of Tadef south
of al-Bab, Syria.
(Reuters, 2/24/17)
2017 Feb 24, Iraq's PM Haider
al-Abbadi said he had ordered the Iraqi air force to strike Islamic
State positions inside Syria in retaliation for recent bomb attacks
in Baghdad.
(Reuters, 2/24/17)

2017 Feb 25, In Syria a suicide
assault on two security service bases in of Homs killing at least 32
people, including General Hassan Daabul, a top intelligence chief.
(AFP, 2/25/17)(SSFC, 2/26/17, p.A8)

2017 Feb 26, The Syrian army
and its allies made a sudden advance into areas held by Islamic
State in northwest Syria, as the jihadist group retreated after
losing the city of al-Bab to Turkey-backed rebels. Government
warplanes pounded a rebel-held neighborhood in the central city of
Homs, killing at least three and wounding dozens. A top al-Qaeda
official was reportedly killed in an airstrike in Idlib province.
(Reuters, 2/26/17)(AP, 2/26/17)(AP, 2/27/17)
2017 Feb 26, Syrian activists
called for the Assad government to engage in serious talks on
political transition and for the United Nations to strengthen the
fragile ceasefire as violence engulfed parts of the country.
(Reuters, 2/26/17)
2017 Feb 26, In northwestern
Syrian a Hellfire missile fired by a CIA drone killed senior
al-Qaeda leader Abu al-Khayr al-Masri (59), a son-in-law of Osama
bin Laden, while he was riding in a car near Idlib.
(Reuters, 2/3/17)(Econ, 3/18/17, p.24)
2017 Feb 26, At the Hollywood
89th Academy Awards the film "The White Helmets," a focus on the
Syrian Civil Defense, won the best documentary award.
(AP, 2/27/17)

2017 Feb 27, Syrian government
or Russian airstrikes on the rebel-held Idlib province killed at
least 11 people. Government forces seized territory from the Islamic
State group on several fronts in the country's north.
(AP, 2/27/17)(AFP, 2/27/17)

2017 Feb 28, Syrian government
forces and their allies from the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah
reached the outskirts of Palmyra in their push to drive Islamic
State militants from the ancient town.
(AP, 2/28/17)
2017 Feb 28, China and Russia
vetoed a UN Security Council resolution that would have imposed new
sanctions on Syria for using chemical weapons against its own
citizens.
(SFC, 3/1/17, p.A3)

2017 Mar 1, In northern Syria
the Turkish army and allied Syrian rebels attacked villages held by
US-allied militias near the city of Manbij. Russian-backed Syrian
government forces and their allies recaptured the historic Palmyra
citadel, on the city's western outskirts, from Islamic State
fighters.
(Reuters, 3/1/17)
2017 Mar 1, UN investigators
said both sides in the battle for Aleppo committed war crimes,
including Syrian government aircraft that "deliberately" bombed and
strafed a humanitarian convoy, killing 14 aid workers and halting
relief operations. Their report said Syrian and Russian forces
conducted daily air strikes on rebel-held eastern Aleppo between
July and its fall on December 22, killing hundreds and destroying
hospitals.
(Reuters, 3/1/17)

2017 Mar 2, Syrian troops
backed by Russian jets completed the recapture of the historic city
of Palmyra from the Islamic State group. Fighters of the US-backed
Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) announced they would cede several
villages to the government as part of a deal brokered by Russia to
avoid conflict with Turkey.
(AFP, 3/2/17)
2017 Mar 2, Syrian warplanes
carried out eight air strikes in a rebel-held district of the mostly
government-controlled city of Homs. The air strikes killed two
civilians and wounded more than 24 people in al-Waer, as
UN-sponsored peace talks continued in Geneva.
(Reuters, 3/2/17)
2017 Mar 2, Germany arrested
two Syrians suspected of being members of the Al-Nusra Front.
Federal prosecutors said Abdalfatah H.A. (35) is suspected of war
crimes over the killing of 36 Syrian government employees by his
unit in 2013. Abdulrahman A.A. (26) belong to the same combat unit.
(SFC, 3/3/17, p.A2)

2017 Mar 4, Syrian government
forces supported by Russian air power and artillery seizing eight
more northern villages today and around 90 villages since
mid-January. Tens of thousands of Syrian civilians have fled the
ferocious fighting against Islamic State group jihadists over the
past week. At least 11 civilians were killed and dozens more wounded
in air strikes on the village of Oqayrabat village, Hama province,
that a monitor said were likely carried out by Russia.
(AFP, 3/4/17)
2017 Mar 4, A Syrian military
jet crashed in Turkey’s southern border province of Hatay. The pilot
was rescued after a nine hour search and had "a few" broken bones
and was receiving treatment at a local hospital, but wasn't in
critical condition.
(AP, 3/5/17)

2017 Mar 5, The UN said tens of
thousands of civilians have fled offensives against the Islamic
State group in Iraq and Syria, where the jihadists are battling to
keep what remains of their territory.
(AFP, 3/5/17)

2017 Mar 6, In Syria US-backed
militias cut the last main road out of Islamic State-held Raqqa,
severing the highway between the group's de facto capital and its
stronghold of Deir al-Zor province.
(Reuters, 3/6/17)
2017 Mar 6, US Pres. Donald
Trump signed a revised executive order temporarily banning people
from six Muslim-majority countries (Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan,
Syria and Yemen). The revision would become effective on March 16.
(SFC, 3/7/17, p.A1)(Econ, 3/11/17, p.29)

2017 Mar 7, In Turkey the top
generals of the Turkish, Russian and US military met in Antalya in a
bid to step up coordination in Syria and avoid clashes between rival
forces in the fight against IS.
(AFP, 3/7/17)

2017 Mar 8, In Syria warplanes
bombed a rebel-held area east of Damascus where Russia declared a
ceasefire until March 20 less than 24 hours earlier.
(Reuters, 3/8/17)
2017 Mar 8, US-based Mercy
Corps, one of the largest humanitarian organizations delivering aid
to Syria, said Turkey has ordered it to immediately shut down its
Turkish operations.
(Reuters, 3/8/17)

2017 Mar 9, In Syria air
strikes, believed to belong to the US-led coalition against the
Islamic State militants, killed 23 civilians, including eight
children, in countryside around the northern city of Raqqa.
(Reuters, 3/9/17)

2017 Mar 10, A Vatican
spokeswoman said in a statement that Pope Francis has sent 100,000
euros ($106,090) to the poor in the ravaged Syrian city of Aleppo.
(Reuters, 3/10/17)

2017 Mar 11, In Syria twin
blasts hit the center of Damascus killing at least 40 people. Two
suicide bombers carried out the attack. The next day the death toll
was soon raised to 74. The Levant Liberation Committee said it was
responsible for the two suicide attacks. The former Al-Qaeda
affiliate Fateh al-Sham Front also claimed responsibility.
(Reuters, 3/11/17)(AFP, 3/12/17)(SFC, 3/13/17,
p.A2)
2017 Mar 11, The Syrian
Observatory for Human Rights said 300 families of Islamic State
group fighters have fled the jihadists' self-proclaimed capital of
Raqa over the last 24 hours, as rival forces advance on the city.
(AFP, 3/11/17)

2017 Mar 13, A Syrian official
said opposition fighters will be allowed to leave the last
rebel-held neighborhood in the city of Homs under a Russia-backed
deal signed today. The deal is to be carried out within six to eight
weeks.
(AP, 3/13/17)
2017 Mar 13, The Syrian
Observatory for Human Rights said it had documented the deaths of
more than 321,000 people since the start of the war six years ago
and more than 145,000 others had been reported as missing.
(Reuters, 3/13/17)

2017 Mar 14, Russian-led peace
talks on Syria were derailed as rebels backed by Turkey boycotted a
third round of meetings in Kazakhstan and the Kremlin indicated
there were international divisions over the process.
(Reuters, 3/14/17)
2017 Mar 14, The UN Independent
International Commission of Inquiry on Syria said Syria's air force
deliberately bombed water sources in December, a war crime that cut
off water for 5.5 million people in and around the capital Damascus.
The UN investigative commission also said it believes government
forces deliberately bombed a school complex in the country's
northern countryside in October, killing 21 children.
(Reuters, 3/14/17)(AP, 3/14/17)

2017 Mar 15, In Syria two
suicide bomb attacks killed at least 31 people and wounded dozens
more in Damascus, in the second such spate of bombings in the Syrian
capital in five days. Sixteen lawyers were among the dozens killed
in the suicide attack that struck the main judicial building in
Damascus.
(Reuters, 3/15/17)(AP, 3/16/17)

2017 Mar 16, In Syria a
suspected US airstrike late today struck the Omar Ibn al-Khattab
Mosque in the Jeeneh district in Aleppo province, killing at least
40 people and wounded many others.
(AP, 3/17/17)

2017 Mar 17, Israeli warplanes
struck several targets in Syria overnight, prompting retaliatory
missile launches, in the most serious incident between the two
countries since the Syrian civil war began six years ago.
(AFP, 3/17/17)

2017 Mar 18, In Syria nearly
1,500 people, mostly civilians, left the last opposition-held
district of Homs under a controversial Russian-supervised deal to
bring the city under full government control.
(AFP, 3/18/17)

2017 Mar 19, In Syria fierce
clashes broke out in Damascus after insurgents infiltrated
government-held parts of the eastern side of the city through
tunnels overnight.
(AP, 3/19/17)
2017 Mar 19, Russia concluded
an agreement with the Syrian Kurdish YPG militia to set up a
military base in northwestern Syria. Russia will be training YPG
fighters, who control the area, as part of the fight against
terrorism.
(Reuters, 3/20/17)

2017 Mar 20, The European Union
said it is slapping sanctions on four high-ranking military
officials in Syria over the use of chemical weapons in the war-torn
country.
(AP, 3/20/17)

2017 Mar 21, Syrian rebels
stormed a government-held area in northeastern Damascus for the
second time in three days, the opposition's first such large scale
foray in over four years inside the capital.
(Reuters, 3/21/17)
2017 Mar 21, In Syria a US
airstrike leveled a school near the IS-held city of Raqqa, where
some 50 displaced families had sought refuge. The Britain-based
Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said 33 bodies had been pulled
from the rubble.
(AP, 3/22/17)

2017 Mar 22, The Syrian army
sent reinforcements to face a major rebel offensive in Hama
province, as insurgents pressed an attack in a western area
critically important to President Bashar al-Assad.
(Reuters, 3/22/17)
2017 Mar 22, In Syria US
aircraft ferried Syrian Kurdish fighters and allied forces behind
Islamic State lines to spearhead an assault on a strategic town
belonging to the extremist group outside its de facto capital,
Raqqa.
(AP, 3/22/17)
2017 Mar 22, Turkey fired into
Kurdish-controlled Syria after saying one of its soldiers was killed
in Hatay province by a sniper from across the border in Afrin.
(Reuters, 3/22/17)

2017 Mar 23, Syrian government
forces besieged Deir Hafer, the last Islamic State stronghold in the
northern province of Aleppo, weeks after launching an offensive to
retake the entire province.
(AP, 3/23/17)

2017 Mar 24, In Syria US-backed
local forces fighting Islamic State reached one side of the Tabqa
dam, about 40 km (25 miles) west of Raqqa, one of the top prizes in
their campaign to drive the jihadist group from Raqqa city.
(Reuters, 3/24/17)
2017 Mar 24, In Syria an air
attack late today struck a prison run by militants, killing at least
16 people including prisoners and prison staff in Idlib city. Some
people were killed by gunfire as prison guards chased detainees who
tried to flee after the attack.
(AP, 3/25/17)
2017 Mar 24, Five children were
among 11 Syrians killed after their plastic boat sank off Turkey's
Aegean coast.
(Reuters, 3/24/17)
2017 Mar 24, The United States
State Department said it has imposed sanctions on 30 foreign
companies or individuals for transferring sensitive technology to
Iran for its missile program or for violating export controls on
Iran, North Korea and Syria.
(Reuters, 3/24/17)

2017 Mar 25, In Syria
airstrikes hit a main street in the Damascus suburb of Hamouriyeh
killing at least 16 people and wounded more than 50. Airstrikes in
Idlib province hit several towns and villages as well as the
provincial capital the carries the same name. Syria's army and its
allies retook a village near Hama, as the government tried to turn
back a major insurgent offensive.
(AP, 3/25/17)(Reuters, 3/25/17)

2017 Mar 26, In Syria the
Islamic State group ordered residents to evacuate the city of Raqqa
following reports that a dam contested by US-backed forces upstream
on the Euphrates River could collapse.
(AP, 3/26/17)
2017 Mar 26, In Syria a Kurdish
and Arab Syrian militia backed by the United States said it has
captured the town of Karama and the capture of the Tabqa air base,
28 miles west of Raqqa. They planned an assault on the Islamic State
stronghold of Raqqa in early April.
(Reuters, 3/26/17)(SFC, 3/27/17, p.A3)

2017 Mar 27, In Syria hundreds
of rebels left their last bastion in Homs city, resuming an
evacuation expected to be among the largest of its kind under a
Russian-backed deal with the government.
(Reuters, 3/27/17)

2017 Mar 28, In Syria the
Islamic State group launched a counter-attack to fend off a
US-backed advance around the Tabqa airbase near the jihadists'
stronghold Raqa. The SDF held back the attack and managed to seize
some ammunition and rocket stores.
(AFP, 3/28/17)

2017 Mar 29, In Syria a bomb
blast hit a passenger bus in the government-held city of Homs at
noon, killing five people and wounding six.
(Reuters, 3/29/17)

2017 Mar 30, In Syria Russian
warplanes pounded rebel-held areas north of the city of Hama in an
escalation of air strikes, as government forces fought to reverse
the insurgents' biggest assault in months.
(Reuters, 3/30/17)
2017 Mar 30, The UN refugee
agency said the number of Syrians who have fled their country after
six years of civil war has surpassed the 5-million mark.
(AP, 3/30/17)

2017 Apr 1, Turkey's foreign
minister said tens of thousands of displaced Syrians and refugees
have returned to an area controlled by Turkey and Turkish-backed
opposition fighters in northern Syria. US-backed Kurdish-led
fighters pressed their offensive in the north near a town held by
the Islamic State group.
(AP, 4/1/17)

2017 Apr 2, In Syria US backed
forces repelled a major counter-attack by Islamic State militants
holding out at the country's largest dam and in the nearby town of
Tabqa. Dozens of their fighters were reported killed. Hundreds of
families with their cattle, property, motor bikes and vans continued
to flee from villages under Islamic State control.
(Reuters, 4/2/17)
2017 Apr 2, In Syria rebels
said jets believed to be Russian hit a northwestern outpost run by
moderate rebel forces, killing at least one fighter and wounding
several people. War jets also believed to be Russian also struck
Urum al Kubra town in rebel-held western Aleppo countryside where
five civilians were killed.
(Reuters, 4/2/17)

2017 Apr 3, Syrian government
forces intensified their bombardment of opposition-held areas around
Damascus and the central city of Hama, as they pushed to erase
battlefield advances made by insurgents in March.
(AP, 4/3/17)
2017 Apr 3, Venezuelan
authorities said they've arrested six officials for taking bribes to
issue identification documents to Syrians.
(AP, 4/4/17)

2017 Apr 4, A suspected Syrian
government chemical attack killed 87 people, including 20 children
the town of town of Khan Sheikhoun, Idlib province. A Syrian
military source denied the army had used any such weapons. 92 people
were later identified as victims of exposure to sarin. The UN later
said the Syria government had used nerve agents in four chemical
weapons attacks since December. It was later reported that Russians
had warning of the attack and then bombed the hospital to which
victims had been sent to destroy evidence.
(AFP, 4/4/17)(AFP, 4/5/17)(SSFC, 4/9/17,
p.A5)(AFP, 4/26/17)(SFC, 5/2/17, p.A3)(Econ, 4/15/17,
p.21)
2017 Apr 4, Britain said it has
allocated 1 billion pounds ($1.24 billion), including 160 million
pounds of new money, to help Syrian refugees displaced by six years
of civil war and countries that host them.
(Reuters, 4/4/17)
2017 Apr 4, Spanish police
investigating a money laundering case involving former Syrian vice
president Rifaat Assad, the exiled uncle of Syria's current leader,
raided properties and blocked dozens of bank accounts belonging or
linked to him and his relatives. Over 500 properties were ordered
seized. Most of the properties are located in Puerto Banus, a luxury
marina in Costa del Sol. The property stock, valued at 691 million
euros ($735 million), includes a 33-square km (12.7 sq. mile) estate
valued at 60 million euros.
(AP, 4/4/17)

2017 Apr 5, In Syria US-backed
fighters laid siege to the northern town of Tabqa, an Islamic State
stronghold. IS militants killed 33 young men in eastern Syria, close
to the border with Iraq, according to Syrian opposition activists.
(AP, 4/6/17)

2017 Apr 6, France's foreign
minister called for the prosecution of President Bashar Assad's
government amid growing international outrage over the April 4
assault in Syria's Idlib province that activists say killed 86
people.
(AP, 4/6/17)
2017 Apr 6, Turkey said that
autopsies of Syrian victims from the April 4 assault in Syria's
Idlib province show they were subjected to chemical weapons.
Russia's Defense Ministry said the toxic agents were released when a
Syrian airstrike hit a rebel chemical weapons arsenal and munitions
factory on the town's eastern outskirts.
(AP, 4/6/17)
2017 Apr 6, Pres. Trump
announced a missile barrage on an air base in Syria in retaliation
against Syrian President Bashar Assad for a chemical weapons attack
against civilians caught up in his country's long civil war. US
officials informed Russian forces ahead of the strikes.
(AP, 4/7/17)(Reuters, 4/7/17)

2017 Apr 7, The US blasted
Syria’s Shayrat air base early today (local time) with a barrage of
cruise missiles in fiery retaliation for this week's gruesome
chemical weapons attack against civilians. 58 of 59 missiles struck
their intended targets. Seven people were reported killed.
(AP, 4/7/17)
2017 Apr 7, Russian PM Dmitry
Medvedev complained that US cruise missile strikes on a Syrian
airbase were one step away from clashing with the Russian military.
Russia the US-led coalition of its intent to suspend a communication
channel for avoiding air accidents in the crowded airspace over
Syria.
(Reuters, 4/7/17)

2017 Apr 8, The Syrian
Observatory for Human Rights said an air strike believed to have
been carried out by the US-led coalition against Islamic State
killed 15 people including four children in a village west of the
jihadists' stronghold of Raqqa.
(Reuters, 4/8/17)
2017 Apr 8, Syrian or Russian
warplanes dropped incendiary bombs on areas of Idlib and Hama
provinces just days after a deadly gas attack in the region.
(Reuters, 4/9/17)

2017 Apr 9, In Syria Islamic
State militants launched two suicide attacks overnight on US-backed
Syrian rebels near the near the joint Syria-Iraq-Jordan al Tanf
border crossing, leaving at least 12 dead in the fighting and many
wounded.
(Reuters, 4/9/17)
2017 Apr 9, Syrian or Russian
warplanes dropped more incendiary bombs on areas of Idlib and Hama
provinces.
(Reuters, 4/9/17)

2017 Apr 10, In northern Syria
US-backed Syrian fighters pushed ahead in their offensive against
members of the Islamic State group under the cover of US-led
coalition airstrikes getting closer to Tabqa, a strategic town that
is home to the country's largest dam. 36 IS fighters were reported
killed in the fighting over the last 24 hours.
(AP, 4/9/17)

2017 Apr 11, Syrian government
warplanes dropped barrel bombs on rebel-held areas of Hama province,
a day after the United States said their use could lead to further
US strikes in Syria.
(Reuters, 4/11/17)
2017 Apr 11, Hundreds of Syrian
students gathered outside the United Nations headquarters in
Damascus to protest last week's US strike on a government air base.
(AFP, 4/11/17)
2017 Apr 11, In northern Syria
a coalition air strike accidentally killed 18 members of a US-backed
Arab-Kurdish alliance fighting the Islamic State group near Tabqa, a
key city next to a dam and military airport and close to the IS
stronghold of Raqa.
(AFP, 4/13/17)
2017 Apr 11, G7 industrialized
nations meeting in Rome urged Russia to pressure the Syrian
government to end the six-year civil war, but rejected a British
call to impose new sanctions on Moscow over its support of President
Bashar Assad.
(AP, 4/11/17)
2017 Apr 11, The Russian
Defence Ministry said on that two of its soldiers had been killed in
a mortar attack in Syria and a third was fighting for his life.
(Reuters, 4/11/17)
2017 Apr 11, Turkey said that
tests proved the deadly nerve agent sarin was used in a suspected
chemical attack in northwestern Syria which killed 87 people on
April 4.
(AFP, 4/11/17)

2017 Apr 13, Syrian President
Bashar al-Assad said the April 4 alleged poison gas attack blamed on
his government in Idlib province was "100 percent fabrication" used
to justify a US air strike.
(Reuters, 4/13/17)

2017 Apr 14, The Syrian
government and rebels evacuated more than 7,000 people from four
besieged towns. Over 2,350 people were bussed out of the twin towns
of Madaya and Zabadani near Damascus. Another 5,000 people were
evacuated on 75 buses from northern rebel-besieged towns of Foua and
Kfraya.
(AP, 4/14/17)

2017 Apr 15, In Syria a bomb
blast hit a bus convoy waiting to enter Aleppo, killing and wounding
dozens of people after an evacuation deal between Syria's warring
sides halted and stranded thousands at two transit points on the
city outskirts. Pro-Damascus media outlets said a suicide attacker
had detonated a car bomb and killed at least 22 people. At least 68
children were among the 126 people killed in the attack.
(Reuters, 4/15/17)(AFP, 4/16/17)

2017 Apr 17, Syrian government
forces and their allies advanced in the central province of Hama
under the cover of intense airstrikes, approaching the outskirts of
Tibet al-Imam, a rebel-held town, a day after capturing the
strategic town of Soran from opposition fighters and militants.
(AP, 4/17/17)
2017 Apr 17, In Syria an
airstrike late today likely carried out by the US-led coalition
struck the eastern town of Boukamal, held by the Islamic State
group, killing at least 10 people and wounding dozens. Another
airstrike, this one during the day, hit a rebel-held village in the
northwest, killing a woman and nine children.
(AP, 4/18/17)
2017 Apr 17, Hundreds of Druze
on the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights marched for Syrian
independence day, carrying portraits of President Bashar al-Assad
and chanting anti-Israel slogans.
(AFP, 4/17/17)

2017 Apr 18, In northern Syria,
an airstrike on the village of Maaret Harmeh killed a woman and nine
children and wounded several others. The United States accused the
Syrian government of being behind the attack and fired missiles at a
Syrian army base. Syria denied the charges.
(AP, 4/18/17)(SFC, 4/19/17, p.A2)

2017 Apr 19, Syria’s state
television reported that a bomb has killed six people and wounded
more than 30 in Aleppo, without giving the reason for the blast. A
large convoy of buses carrying evacuees from the government-held
towns of Fuaa and Kafraya reached the edge of the rebel-held transit
point.
(AFP, 4/19/17)

2017 Apr 20, The Syrian army
advanced into the town of Taybet al Imam in Hama province, expanding
its territory along the strategic western highway between Damascus
and Aleppo. The army was also joined by Iranian-backed militias in
the push into Taybet al Imam. Dozens of aerial strikes also hit the
nearby towns of Halfaya and Latamneh. A rebel commander said Russian
jets had escalated their bombing campaign in the area in the past
few days, deploying a "scorched earth" strategy using incendiary and
phosphorous bombs.
(Reuters, 4/20/17)

2017 Apr 23, The Syrian army
and allied forces advanced against rebels near Hama city, building
on recent strategic gains in the area.
(Reuters, 4/23/17)
2017 Apr 23, An Israeli attack
against a military base for the Syrian pro-government National
Defence Forces in southern Syria killed three NDF members.
(Reuters, 4/23/17)

2017 Apr 24, The Trump
administration said it was imposing sanctions on 271 employees of
the Syrian government agency that produces chemical weapons and
ballistic missiles.
(SFC, 4/25/17, p.A4)

2017 Apr 25, Turkish warplanes
killed at least 28 Kurdish fighters in strikes in Syria and Iraq,
where the Kurds are key players in the battle against the Islamic
State group.
(AFP, 4/25/17)(AFP, 4/26/17)

2017 Apr 26, French
intelligence services said they have scientific proof that the
Syrian regime was responsible for the April 4 suspected chemical
attack that killed 87 people.
(AFP, 4/26/17)

2017 Apr 27, Syrian activists
said airstrikes across the opposition-held Idlib province have
killed at least 19 people, with some targeting ambulances and
medical centers. The activists believed Russia or the Syrian
government launched the raids.
(AP, 4/27/17)
2017 Apr 27, Syria's state
media reported that Israel has attacked a military installation near
the Damascus International Airport.
(AP, 4/27/17)
2017 Apr 27, In Syria Mustafa
Gunes, an Islamic State operative from Turkey, was killed in a US
coalition air strike in Mayadin.
(AP, 5/26/17)

2017 Apr 28, In Syria US-backed
forces fighting Islamic State took several neighborhoods from the
militant group in the town of Tabqa, part of a campaign to oust
Islamic State from its stronghold in Raqqa city.
(Reuters, 4/28/17)

2017 Apr 29, Syria's military
said its troops and allied fighters have repelled an attack by the
Islamic State group on a government-held area south of Aleppo
province. IS-affiliated Aamaq news agency claimed IS fighters killed
30 government soldiers in the attack on Um Mayal village east of
Khanaser. Fighting between rebel groups in the biggest insurgent
stronghold near Damascus entered a second day. The Syrian
Observatory for Human Rights said it had documented the deaths of at
least 38 fighters in the first 24 hours of fighting between rebel
groups. It also reported civilian casualties.
(AP, 4/29/17)(Reuters, 4/29/17)
2017 Apr 29, In Syria air
strikes killed eight White Helmet rescuers in the rebel-held area of
Kfar Zeita.
(SSFC, 4/30/17, p.A3)

2017 Apr 30, In northern Syria
a US-backed Kurdish-Arab alliance advanced against the Islamic State
group in the key town of Tabqa near the jihadist bastion of Raqa.
(AP, 4/30/17)

2017 May 1, In northern Syria
US-backed fighters cornered the Islamic State group in a last part
of Tabqa, after tearing down a huge jihadist flag that had fluttered
over the city. A total of 35 IS fighters were killed in 24 hours of
clashes and air strikes in Tabqa.
(AFP, 5/1/17)

2017 May 2, In Syria a jihadist
assault led by suicide bombers killed dozens at a camp for the
displaced near the border with Iraq. The violence left at least 38
people dead and came as another surprise IS attack killed 10
soldiers in Iraq.
(AFP, 5/2/17)

2017 May 3, The Syrian armed
opposition said it has suspended its participation in the 4th round
of peace talks being held in Astana, Kazakhstan, and demanded an end
to government bombing of areas under its control. Kazakhstan said it
expects the Syrian armed opposition to return to the table on May 4.
(Reuters, 5/3/17)(AP, 5/3/17)
2017 May 3, A large explosion
shook a rebel-held Syrian town along the border with Turkey, killing
at least five people and wounding others.
(AP, 5/3/17)

2017 May 4, Iran, Russia and
Turkey signed an agreement calling for the setting up of four
"de-escalation zones" in war-torn Syria at the cease-fire talks in
Kazakhstan and said that President Bashar Assad's air force would
halt flights over the designated areas in the country's north,
center and south. Members of the Syrian opposition delegation
shouted in protest and walked out of the conference room in Astana.
The opposition said it could not accept creating safe zones in Syria
because it threatens the country's territorial integrity and said it
would also not recognize Iran as a guarantor of the peace plan.
(AP, 5/4/17)(Reuters, 5/4/17)

2017 May 5, Russia’s Defense
Ministry said the agreement on safe zones in Syria will come into
force from midnight tonight, but that its air force will continue
striking Islamic State elsewhere in the country.
(Reuters, 5/5/17)

2017 May 6, In Syria government
shelling of a suburb of the capital Damascus killed four insurgents
and wounded one child south of the country as a “de-escalation" plan
went into effect at midnight.
(AP, 5/6/17)
2017 May 6, The Syrian
government pushed opposition fighters out of the village of
Zalaqiyat, Hama province, following days of fighting that killed at
least 14 rebels. 11 pro-government fighters were reported killed in
the Zalaqiyat advance.
(AP, 5/7/17)
2017 May 6, Russia's Defense
Ministry said its military chief of staff and the chairman of the US
joint chiefs of staff have confirmed their readiness to restore a
communications channel aimed at preventing midair incidents between
Russian and US warplanes over Syria.
(AP, 5/6/17)

2017 May 8, Hundreds of Syrian
rebels began leaving the besieged Damascus district of Barzeh as
part of an evacuation deal with the government.
(Reuters, 5/8/17)
2017 May 8, The Islamic State
group released a video showing the beheading of an alleged Russian
agent who it said had infiltrated its ranks as a fighter to spy on
the militant group. Moscow denied the claim.
(AP, 5/9/17)
2017 May 8, In China the Syrian
ambassador to China said up to 5,000 ethnic Uighurs from China's far
western region of Xinjiang are fighting in various militant groups
in Syria adding that Beijing should be extremely concerned about it.
(AP, 5/8/17)

2017 May 9, Syrian government
forces and US-backed opposition fighters clashed in a remote desert
area near the borders with Iraq and Jordan. About 7,400 troops from
more than 20 nations were said to be participating. Syrian
government warplanes struck rebel outposts near the Jordanian
border.
(AP, 5/9/17)(Reuters, 5/9/17)
2017 May 9, In Syria warplanes
late today, thought to belong to the US-led military coalition
against Islamic State, killed at least 11 people, including four
children, in al-Salihiya village north of Raqqa.
(Reuters, 5/10/17)
2017 May 9, The Trump
administration said it will arm Syria’s Kurdish fighters “as
necessary" to recapture the Islamic State stronghold of Raqqa.
(SFC, 5/10/17, p.A2)

2017 May 10, The Syrian air
force pounded the remaining Islamic State-held villages in Aleppo
province, killing 13 people near al-Maskaneh town. The Kurdish-led
Syrian Democratic Forces expelled Islamic State militants from the
Tabqa Dam and the nearby town of Tabqa.
(Reuters, 5/10/17)(SFC, 5/11/17, p.A2)

2017 May 11, In Syria Abu Asim
al-Jazeri, an Islamic State planner from Algeria, was killed a US
coalition air strike in Mayadin.
(AP, 5/26/17)

2017 May 12, In Syria more than
1,200 people including rebels left two opposition-held districts of
Damascus under an agreement that will bring Syria's government
closer to exerting full control over the capital.
(AFP, 5/12/17)

2017 May 13, Syrian state TV
reported that the military has recaptured the Qaboun suburb from
rebel fighters on the eastern edge of Damascus.
(AP, 5/13/17)
2017 May 13, In Syria
Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces, backed by US-led coalition
airstrikes, clashed with the militants in a multi-pronged offensive
northeast and northwest of Raqqa bringing the SDF 4 km (2.5 miles)
from the city.
(AP, 5/13/17)

2017 May 14, In Syria 22 women
were killed and eight wounded in a drone strike on a bus in
Akayrshi, about 16 km (10 miles) from Raqqa according to the IS-run
Aamaq news agency. The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human
Rights said 12 women were killed in the strikes on Akayrshi.
(AP, 5/15/17)

2017 May 15, In Syria an
agreement between the government and rebels to evacuate an
opposition-held district of Damascus was completed as more
insurgents left the Qaboun area.
(Reuters, 5/15/17)
2017 May 15, Unidentified
fighter jets struck a mosque and surrounding houses in Boukamal
(Albu Kamal) on the Syria-Iraq border. The airstrikes destroyed 15
homes and killed 62 people, including 42 civilians who had fled from
other areas in Iraq and Syria. On May 16 the US-led coalition
against the Islamic State group said it did not conduct strikes in
the eastern Syrian town of Albu Kamal.
(AP, 5/15/17)(AFP, 5/17/17)
2017 May 15, The US State
Department said that it believes about 50 detainees are being hanged
each day at the Saydnaya military prison, a 45-minute drive north of
Damascus.
(AP, 5/16/17)

2017 May 16, The Syrian
government "categorically" denied US accusations of mass killings at
a prison near Damascus, including the alleged execution of political
opponents and burning the victims in a crematorium at the site.
(AP, 5/16/17)

2017 May 18, In central Syria
the Islamic State group attacked several government-held villages,
capturing at least one of them in violence that left 52 people dead
including more than two dozen women and children, some of whom were
beheaded, as well as Syrian troops in Hama province. Pres. Assad met
with Iraq's national security adviser Faleh al-Fayad to discuss
steps to improve coordination between their countries' militaries in
the anti-terrorism campaign along their shared border.
(AP, 5/18/17)
2017 May 18, In Syria US-led
warplanes carried out two strikes in the east of the country against
a convoy of pro-government forces headed towards a remote coalition
garrison near the border with Jordan. At least eight people were
killed.
(AFP, 5/19/17)

2017 May 19, In Switzerland
Syria's warring sides entered a final day of UN-backed talks with
little sign of progress towards ending the conflict and with
negotiations overshadowed by swelling tensions on the ground.
(AFP, 5/19/17)
2017 May 19, Organizations from
Netherlands and Qatar said they are joining forces to get 6,000
Syrian refugees into higher education courses, a move aimed at
helping them integrate in the countries where they live now and
rebuild their own nation if they are able to return.
(AP, 5/19/17)

2017 May 20, Syrian rebels
started leaving the last opposition-held district of Homs city in
the final phase of an evacuation deal that will see President Bashar
al-Assad's government take back the area.
(Reuters, 5/20/17)

2017 May 21, In Syria the last
buses carrying rebel fighters and their families left a besieged
district of Homs, completing a deal to bring the whole city back
under government control for the first time since the start of the
war. A suicide bomb attack killed at least 14 insurgents at a
headquarters for the powerful Islamist Ahrar al-Sham group in Idlib
province. The Islamic State was blamed for the attack.
(Reuters, 5/21/17)

2017 May 22, In Syria intense
clashes broke out in Daraa between government forces and insurgents
with both sides shelling parts of the southern city that has been
declared a safe zone under a recent Russia-sponsored deal.
(AP, 5/22/17)

2017 May 23, In Syria an attack
by two suicide bombers in the city of Homs killed at least four
people and wounded more than two dozen. Syrian forces hit a pickup
truck rigged with explosives on the road leading to the Damascus
International Airport, killing two militants. The Islamic State
group claimed responsibility for both attacks.
(AP, 5/23/17)

2017 May 24, Syrian government
forces carried out at least 12 airstrikes and dropped at least nine
barrel bombs on rebel-held parts of Daraa as intense clashes with
insurgents, including members of the al-Qaida-linked Levant
Liberation Committee, continued in the city's Manshiyeh
neighborhood.
(AP, 5/24/17)
2017 May 24, The Syrian army
said it had killed Abu Musab al-Masri, the Islamic State's military
commander in Syria, during operations in the north of the country,
in operations that got underway on May 10.
(Reuters, 5/24/17)
2017 May 24, In Syria At least
16 civilians were killed in bombing raids early today by the US-led
coalition on the village of Al-Baruda 10 miles from Raqa. 15
civilians were reportedly killed in coalition raids on Mayadeen.
(AFP, 5/24/17)(AFP, 5/26/17)

2017 May 25, The Syrian army
said it had retaken a swathe of territory from Islamic State in
southern Syria in a rapid advance near areas held by US-backed
Syrian rebels at the border with Jordan and Iraq.
(Reuters, 5/25/17)
2017 May 25, In eastern Syria
35 civilians were killed in US coalition raids on Mayadeen late
today, including 13 children.
(AFP, 5/26/17)(AP, 5/27/17)

2017 May 26, In Syria an early
morning US-led coalition air strike on the eastern town of Mayadeen
killed at least 80 relatives of Islamic State group fighters.
(AFP, 5/26/17)

2017 May 27, Syria’s
government-controlled media and a war monitor said Syrian troops and
allied militia have pushed back Islamic State militants and
US-backed opposition fighters, gaining control of a large swath of
territory in the country's strategic southern desert.
(AP, 5/27/17)

2017 May 28, A Russian
airstrike targeting Islamic State leaders outside Raqqa reportedly
killed more than 300 militants. Russia announced the strike on June
16 and said IS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi may have been among those
killed.
(SFC, 6/17/17, p.A4)

2017 May 29, In Syria more
airstrikes and artillery shelling hit the northern city of Raqqa,
the de facto capital of the Islamic State group, as US-backed
fighters pushed closer to the extremists' stronghold. The
activist-operated Raqqa is Being Slaughtered Silently said that the
US-led coalition carried out more than 30 airstrikes on the city
over the last 24 hours, killing 35 people and destroying a school on
Raqqa's northern outskirts.
(AP, 5/29/17)

2017 May 31, Western-backed
Syrian rebels said that Russian jets attacked them as they tried to
advance against Iran-backed militias in a region of the southeastern
desert.
(Reuters, 5/31/17)
2017 May 31, In Syria Turki
al-Binali, a Bahraini cleric who rose to be one of the group's
leading ideologues, was reported killed in a recent airstrike.
(AP, 6/1/17)
2017 May 31, In eastern Syria
Baraa Kadek, the founder of the Islamic State group Aamaq news
agency, reportedly died after he and his wife and daughter were
wounded in a May 26 airstrike in Mayadeen, Deir el-Zour province.
(AP, 6/1/17)
2017 May 31, The Russian
defense ministry said its warships have fire four cruise missiles at
Islamic State positions in the area of Palmyra, Syria. There was no
information on when the missiles were launched.
(SFC, 6/1/17, p.A4)

2017 Jun 3, The Syrian army
said it had seized mountainous territory from Islamic State to the
east of the road linking Damascus to Aleppo, helping to secure a
critical lifeline for the government that has often come under IS
attack.
(Reuters, 6/3/17)
2017 Jun 3, Three gunmen on
motor bikes launched an attack from Syrian soil on Jordanian border
positions and were killed in a clash with troops.
(AP, 6/3/17)

2017 Jun 4, Syrian government
forces pounded parts of the southern city of Daraa with air strikes
and artillery fire, one day after rebels attacked government
positions in the southern city. At least 31 fighters have been
killed in the clashes since late June 2. Syria's army seized the key
town of Maskana, from the Islamic State group Aleppo province.
(AP, 6/4/17)(AFP, 6/4/17)
2017 Jun 4, In Syria US-backed
militias seized the Baath Dam on the Euphrates river from Islamic
State, their latest gain as they push towards Raqqa city.
(Reuters, 6/4/17)
2017 Jun 4, Turkey's state-run
news reported that PM Binali Yildirim said the battle to capture the
Islamic State group's Syrian bastion Raqa started late on June 2. He
appeared to contradict comments a day earlier from the Kurdish-Arab
alliance battling the jihadists that the push into the northern
Syrian city would "begin in a few days".
(AFP, 6/4/17)

2017 Jun 5, Syrian rebels shot
down a Syrian military plane about 50 km east of Damascus in
rebel-held territory near a frontline with government-held land.
Rebels hit the aircraft with heavy, anti-aircraft machine guns which
had been delivered to them in recent weeks by the United States and
its allies.
(Reuters, 6/5/17)

2017 Jun 6, The US-backed
Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) said it had begun a battle to capture
Raqqa, Islamic State's de facto capital in Syria, launching attacks
from the east, west and north of the city. Air strikes inside the
city killed eight civilians, including three children.
(Reuters, 6/6/17)(AFP, 6/7/17)

2017 Jun 7, In Syria US-backed
fighters gained ground against the Islamic State group in the
streets of Raqa, a day after their months-long offensive finally
broke into the jihadists' bastion.
(AFP, 6/7/17)

2017 Jun 8, In Syria US-backed
fighters battled the Islamic State group as they tried to push
further into the jihadists' Syrian bastion Raqa, two days after
finally entering the northern city.
(AFP, 6/8/17)

2017 Jun 9, The UN children's
agency warned that the fight for the Islamic State group's
stronghold of Raqqa threatens more than 40,000 children, while
overnight airstrikes on the city in northern Syria killed more than
a dozen people.
(AP, 6/9/17)

2017 Jun 9, In Syria US-led
coalition forces launched heavy raids overnight in support of Syrian
fighters battling to oust the Islamic State group from its bastion
of Raqa. 23 civilians were killed in strikes, including 15 who were
in an internet cafe in the western suburb of Jazra, just outside the
city.
(AFP, 6/9/17)
2017 Jun 8, In southeastern
Syria a US aircraft shot down a pro-Syrian government drone after it
fired upon a group of US-led coalition forces.
(SFC, 6/9/17, p.A2)

2017 Jun 10, Syrian
pro-government forces said they now hold more than a fifth of the
country's strategic desert, after reaching the eastern border with
Iraq for the first time since 2015.
(AFP, 6/10/17)
2017 Jun 10, In Syria US-backed
Syrian fighters (SDF) broke into the western part of the Islamic
State group's stronghold Raqa, opening up a second front inside the
city.
(AFP, 6/10/17)

2017 Jun 11, In Syria the
US-backed SDF opposition force said it has captured a northwestern
neighborhood of the Islamic State group's de-facto capital of Raqqa
the second district to fall in their hands in days after the group
launched a wide offensive to gain control of the extremists' de
facto capital.
(AP, 6/11/17)
2017 Jun 11, Jordan said its
border guards have killed five suspected infiltrators approaching
the kingdom's border from Syria in a pickup truck and two
motorcycles.
(AP, 6/11/17)

2017 Jun 13, In Syria Islamic
State group jihadists waged fierce battles in Raqa in a bid to repel
US-backed fighters advancing towards the walls of the Old City.
(AFP, 6/13/17)

2017 Jun 15, Syrian government
forces marched toward the last town held by the Islamic State group
in the central province of Homs in the latest push by President
Bashar Assad's troops against the extremists.
(AP, 6/15/17)

2017 Jun 16, Russia announced
that the Islamic State group's leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi may have
been killed in a Russian airstrike in Syria on May 28.
(AP, 6/16/17)(SFC, 6/17/17, p.A4)

2017 Jun 17, In Syria a convoy
delivering aid to a besieged opposition area outside Damascus came
under attack late today, seriously wounding a driver of the Syrian
Arab Red Crescent and thwarting the first such mission to the area
in eight months.
(AP, 6/18/17)

2017 Jun 18, In Syria the US
military shot down a Syrian Su-22 air force jet after it dropped
bombs near the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) that are
fighting the Islamic State group.
(AP, 6/19/17)
2017 Jun 18, An Iranian
ballistic missile strike targeted the Islamic State group in Syria's
eastern city of Deir el-Zour. No casualties were reported.
(AP, 6/19/17)

2017 Jun 21, Syrian government
forces recaptured territory on Damascus' eastern outskirts from
rebels after stepping up attacks in that area.
(Reuters, 6/21/17)
2017 Jun 21, In Syria the
US-backed SDF militias closed in on Islamic State's stronghold of
Raqqa, taking territory on the south bank of the Euphrates River
with the aim of encircling the city.
(AP, 6/21/17)

2017 Jun 23, The Syrian
Observatory for Human Rights said US-led coalition air strikes on
two Syrian provinces targeting jihadists have killed 472 civilians
over the past month.
(AFP, 6/23/17)

2017 Jun 24, Syria's government
released 672 prisoners on the eve of a major Muslim holiday who had
promised to accept the state's authority, a move it said was aimed
at bolstering a "reconciliation" process.
(Reuters, 6/24/17)(AP, 6/24/17)
2017 Jun 24, In Syria a civil
council expected to rule Raqqa once Islamic State is dislodged from
the city pardoned 83 of the jihadist group's low-ranking militants,
a goodwill gesture designed to promote stability.
(Reuters, 6/24/17)
2017 Jun 24, In Syria a car
bomb killed 10 people in the town of al-Dana in rebel-held Idlib
province. Another bombing in the town a day earlier killed two
people.
(Reuters, 6/25/17)

2017 Jun 25, The Israeli
military said it attacked a series of Syrian military targets after
several projectiles landed in the Israeli-controlled Golan Heights
for a 2nd day.
(SFC, 6/26/17, p.A2)

2017 Jun 26, In eastern Syria
57 people were killed in an air strike believed to have been carried
out by the US-led coalition on an Islamic State prison in the town
of al-Mayadeen. Syrian Kurdish forces said they seized a new
district from the Islamic State in Raqqa.
(AP, 6/27/17)(SFC, 6/27/17, p.A2)

2017 Jun 27, The Pentagon said
it detected "active preparations" by Syria for a chemical weapons
attack, giving weight to a White House statement hours earlier that
the Syrian government would "pay a heavy price" if it carried out
such an attack.
(AP, 6/27/17)

2017 Jun 28, In eastern Syria
at least 15 people were killed in an unidentified airstrike, in the
second attack in three days reported to kill civilians in the
Islamic State-held Euphrates River valley.
(AP, 6/28/17)
2017 Jun 28, Turkey’s military
said its forces retaliated with an artillery barrage overnight and
destroyed Kurdish YPG militia targets after the group's fighters
opened fire on Turkey-backed forces in northern Syria.
(Reuters, 6/28/17)

2017 Jun 29, In Syria the
US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces sealed off the last route used by
the Islamic State group to flee an offensive on its Syrian bastion
Raqqa. The IHS Markit analysis firm said the Islamic State group has
lost more than 60 percent of its territory and 80 percent of its
revenue.
(AFP, 6/29/17)

2017 Jun 30, In Syria Islamic
State mounted a fierce counter-attack against the Syrian Democratic
Forces (SDF) alliance of militias in the city of Raqqa, but there
were divergent accounts of its success in regaining ground. The
Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, said the IS had regained
control over most of the industrial area in fierce fighting. The
Observatory also said Islamic State militants have withdrawn from
the last territory they held in Aleppo province after the Syrian
army retook the Ithriya-Rasafa road and areas east of Khanaser.
(Reuters, 6/30/17)
2017 Jun 30, An Israeli
warplane struck a Syrian army post, hours after stray fire from
Syria's civil war hit the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights.
(AFP, 6/30/17)
2017 Jun 30, In Lebanon five
suicide bombers attacked Lebanese soldiers as they raided two Syrian
refugee camps in the Arsal area. A sixth militant threw a hand
grenade at a patrol. Seven soldiers were wounded and a girl was
killed after one of the suicide bombers blew himself up in the midst
of a family of refugees. The army later said four of 355 detained
Syrians were transferred to a hospital for medical treatment
immediately after their arrest but died before they could be
interrogated. Two of their bodies showed heavy bruising on the face
and abdomen. A third body was missing the head. An international
watchdog called for a quick investigation into the deaths.
(Reuters, 6/30/17)(AP, 7/5/17)

2017 Jul 2, In Syria a suicide
car bomb killed 20 people and wounded dozens more in a rare attack
in the heart of Damascus. Authorities said they foiled a wider
assault by intercepting two other explosives-laden vehicles.
(AP, 7/2/17)(Reuters, 7/6/17)

2017 Jul 3, The Syrian army
unilaterally announced a halt to fighting in the country's south
that would coincide with a new round of peace talks in the Kazakh
capital Astana.
(AFP, 7/3/17)

2017 Jul 4, In Syria the
US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) waged fierce battles with
Islamic State militants in the Old City of Raqqa after the US-led
coalition opened two small openings in its historic walls.
(Reuters, 7/4/17)

2017 Jul 5, In Syria Russian
strategic bombers struck the Islamic State group with cruise
missiles along the boundary between Hama and Homs provinces. A
two-day round of Syria cease-fire talks in Astana, Kazakhstan, ended
without conclusive results.
(AP, 7/5/17)
2017 Jul 5, The head of the
Syrian Kurdish YPG militia said that Turkish military deployments
near Kurdish-held areas of northwestern Syria amounted to "a
declaration of war", signaling the risk of a major confrontation.
(Reuters, 7/5/17)

2017 Jul 6, In Syria a suicide
bomber in Hama killed two people and injured nine others, in the
second such attack in a government-held city this week.
(Reuters, 7/6/17)

2017 Jul 7, Syrian government
forces carried out heavy bombardment of a rebel-held district on the
eastern edge of Damascus in support of advancing troops. At least 11
regime fighters and 19 rebels have been killed in Ain Terma and
Jobar since the army began escalating operations there on June 20.
(AFP, 7/7/17)
2017 Jul 7, In Syria Islamic
State militants fought to repel the advance of US-backed Syrian
forces, days after they inched closer to the heart of the extremist
group's de facto capital of Raqqa.
(AP, 7/7/17)
2017 Jul 7, A separate truce
for southern Syria, effective as of July 9, was brokered by the US
and Russia. It was meant to help allay growing concerns by
neighboring Jordan and Israel about Iranian military ambitions in
the area.
(AP, 7/8/17)

2017 Jul 9, In Syria a
US-Russian brokered ceasefire for southwest Syria was holding hours
after it took effect.
(Reuters, 7/9/17)

2017 Jul 10, Syrian troops and
Iranian-backed militias launched an assault on Bedouin villages in
the southeast desert to consolidate control of eastern Sweida, a
swathe of desert stretching to the Iraqi border.
(Reuters, 7/10/17)
2017 Jul 10, The UN's envoy for
Syria opened a new round of indirect talks in Geneva, the seventh so
far, between Syrian government representatives and opposition
leaders to try to wind down the battered country's civil war.
(AP, 7/10/17)

2017 Jul 11, In northern Syria
a US-backed, Kurdish-led militia captured al-Ukayrshi, where
extremists had once run a training camp named for Osama Bin Laden.
(AP, 7/11/17)
2017 Jul 11, The Syrian
Observatory for Human Rights said that it had "confirmed
information" that Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi has been
killed. Rebel groups shot down a Syrian government warplane near a
ceasefire zone in the country's south.
(Reuters, 7/10/17)(AFP, 7/11/17)
2017 Jul 11, The UN said up to
50,000 civilians remain trapped in the Syrian jihadist stronghold of
Raqa, warning that supplies of water and other essentials were fast
running out.
(AP, 7/11/17)

2017 Jul 14, In Syria
airstrikes on the outskirts of Damascus killed at least two people.
At least one other person was killed and several people were wounded
in the strikes on Ein Terma, a contested suburb on the northeast
edge of Damascus.
(AP, 7/14/17)
2017 Jul 14, In Syria clashes
broke out between the ultraconservative Ahrar al-Sham and the
al-Qaida-linked Hay'at Tahrir al Sham, two of the most powerful
insurgent groups in the northwest, raising fears of widespread
violence in rebel-held Idlib province.
(AP, 7/15/17)

2017 Jul 16, In Syria a bomb
exploded near a hospital in the rebel-held northwestern city of
Idlib wounding five people. Hours later two shells hit the Russian
embassy in Damascus causing material damage.
(AP, 7/16/17)

2017 Jul 17, In Syria US-backed
fighters fought Islamic State militants in the heart of Raqqa, as
scores of civilians fled areas controlled by the group. US-backed
forces captured a new neighborhood from entrenched jihadists. The
Syrian army supported by Iranian backed militias seized new oil
fields in the desert in the southwest of Raqqa province in new
advances against retreating Islamic state militants.
(AP, 7/17/17) (Reuters,
7/17/17)(AFP, 7/17/17)
2017 Jul 17, The European Union
imposed sanctions on 16 Syrian scientists and military officials for
their suspected involvement in a chemical attack in northern Syria
in April which killed scores of civilians.
(Reuters, 7/17/17)
2017 Jul 17, Turkish-backed
rebels clashed with Kurdish fighters from a US-backed alliance in
northwestern Syria in escalating violence between the two sides.
(Reuters, 7/17/17)

2017 Jul 18, More than a dozen
Syrian rebels died in hit-and-run clashes with a US-backed alliance
dominated by Kurdish forces in the country's north. The
Turkish-backed rebels were locked in a second day of fighting with
units from the Syrian Democratic Forces around the village of Ain
Daqna.
(AFP, 7/18/17)

2017 Jul 19, The Syrian
Observatory for Human Rights said infighting between two of the most
powerful factions in opposition-held Idlib province has killed at
least 14 people in the past 24 hours. Fierce clashes between Syrian
rebels and al-Qaida-linked militants spread through northwest, as
the two sides jostled for control over the important border town of
Sarmada.
(AFP, 7/19/17)(AP, 7/19/17)

2017 Jul 20, In Syria rebels
killed at least 28 members of government and allied forces east of
the capital Damascus.
(Reuters, 7/20/17)

2017 Jul 21, The Syrian army
and members of Lebanon's militant Hezbollah group launched a major
ground offensive aimed at ending the years-long presence of hundreds
of militants in a border area between the two countries.
(AP, 7/21/17)
2017 Jul 21, Clashes in Syria's
Idlib province between a powerful jihadist group and a key rebel
faction intensified overnight, spreading to a border crossing with
Turkey. The running battles between the jihadist Hayat Tahrir
al-Sham (HTS), led by a former Al-Qaeda affiliate, and the Ahrar
al-Sham rebel group have so far killed at least 65 people, including
15 civilians.
(AFP, 7/21/17)
2017 Jul 21, Lebanon's
Hezbollah and the Syrian army launched an offensive to drive
insurgents from their last foothold at the Syrian-Lebanese border.
(Reuters, 7/21/17)

2017 Jul 22, Syrian warplanes
carried out air strikes against Islamic State in an area of
countryside east of Raqqa and close to where US-backed forces
operate.
(Reuters, 7/22/17)
2017 Jul 22, The Syrian army
announced a halt in fighting for parts of Eastern Ghouta, a
rebel-held region on the outskirts of the capital that has been
ravaged in the six-year conflict.
(AFP, 7/23/17)
2017 Jul 22, Lebanon's Shi'ite
militia Hezbollah and the Syrian army advanced against Sunni
militants, the second day of an assault to drive them from their
last foothold along the Syria-Lebanon border, pro-Damascus media
reported.
(Reuters, 7/22/17)
2017 Jul 22, Russia's Defense
Ministry said an agreement has been reached with the Syrian
opposition on the boundaries for a de-escalation zone for the East
Ghouta area near the Syrian capital Damascus.
(AP, 7/22/17)

2017 Jul 23, Syria's regime
carried out air raids on one of the last rebel strongholds near
Damascus, a day after it declared a ceasefire in parts of the
besieged enclave.
(AFP, 7/23/17)

2017 Jul 24, In Syria an air
strike late today killed eight civilians, half of them children, and
wounded dozens more in Eastern Ghouta, a rebel-held region near
Damascus where a fragile truce was declared at the weekend. Russia
denied involvement.
(AFP, 7/25/17)
2017 Jul 24, Lebanon-based
Hezbollah said its battle with Nusra Front jihadists at the
Syria-Lebanon border was almost over and urged remaining insurgents
in the area to give up, pressing its campaign to take their last
foothold at the frontier.
(Reuters, 7/24/17)

2017 Jul 26, Russia’s President
Vladimir Putin signed a law ratifying a deal with the Syrian
government allowing Russia to keep its air base in Syria for almost
half a century, official documents show.
(Reuters, 7/27/17)

2017 Jul 27, It was reported
that US-backed Syrian fighters have captured almost half of the
Islamic State group's de facto capital of Raqqa. The push into the
city has slowed due to stiff resistance and large amounts of
explosives planted by the extremists.
(AP, 7/27/17)
2017 Jul 27, In Syria Islamic
State militants carried out a deadly attack on US-backed forces near
Raqqa, killing and wounding many fighters and civilians. The attack
killed 53 SDF members and damaged two armored vehicles.
(AP, 7/28/17)
2017 Jul 27, A ceasefire took
effect in a mountainous area of the Lebanese-Syrian border where
Lebanon's Hezbollah says it is on the verge of defeating Nusra Front
militants in their last foothold at the frontier.
(Reuters, 7/27/17)

2017 Jul 28, High-ranking Iraqi
security officials said up to 7,000 Islamic State group affiliates
remain in Iraq after the fall of Mosul. They also said there are up
to another 7,000 IS militants and 5,000 supporters in Syria.
(AP, 7/28/17)

2017 Jul 29, Syria's army and
its allies reached the edge of al-Sukhna, the last town held by
Islamic State in Homs province and a key step in their multi-pronged
offensive against the militants.
(Reuters, 7/29/17)

2017 Jul 30, Hezbollah and a
Syrian affiliate to Al-Qaida began exchanging the bodies of dead
fighters along the Lebanese-Syrian border in the first stage of a
settlement to restore order to a contested frontier zone. About
8,000 people have registered to leave the Lebanese border region
near Arsal for a rebel-held area of Syria as part of a local
ceasefire between Hezbollah and the Nusra Front.
(AP, 7/30/17)(Reuters, 7/30/17)

2017 Jul 31, Scores of buses
and ambulances arrived at the Lebanon-Syria border for the second
phase of an exchange between Lebanon's Hezbollah group and Syria's
al-Qaida affiliate that would lead to the resettlement of thousands
of refugees in Syria.
(AP, 7/31/17)

2017 Aug 1, Syria's government
said Saudi authorities continue to place restrictions on Syrian
citizens looking to take part in this year's hajj, accusing the
kingdom of "politicizing" the annual Muslim pilgrimage.
(AP, 8/1/17)
2017 Aug 1, A Kurdish official
said the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) are on the verge
of seizing full control of the southern neighborhoods of Raqqa.
(Reuters, 8/1/17)

2017 Aug 2, Some 113 buses
carrying Syrian militants and refugees left a Lebanese border area
bound for a rebel-held part of Syria, under a deal made after
Shi'ite Hezbollah routed Sunni Islamist Nusra Front insurgents in
their last foothold at the frontier.
(Reuters, 8/2/17)

2017 Aug 3, In Syria the
Islamic State called on all men between 20 and 30 who are able to
fight to head to mobilization offices within a week in Deir el-Zour
province.
(AP, 8/3/17)
2017 Aug 3, Russia's Defense
Ministry announced a cease-fire for a third safe zone in war-torn
Syria, paving the way for the delivery of sorely needed humanitarian
relief to rebel-held areas north of the city of Homs.
(AP, 8/3/17)
2017 Aug 3, The UN
Commission of Inquiry on Syria said Islamic State is still
committing genocide against the Yazidi minority in Iraq after three
years but the world is failing in its duty to punish the crime.
(Reuters, 8/3/17)

2017 Aug 4, In northern Syria
the heaviest fighting and shelling for months hit Hama province, but
there were diverging accounts of how the battle started.
(Reuters, 8/4/17)
2017 Aug 4, In Syria Russian
military police deployed north of the central city of Homs, setting
up checkpoints and observation points as part of a cease-fire in a
third safe zone, but opposition activists said the truce was
violated by government forces.
(AP, 8/4/17)

2017 Aug 6, In central Syria
pro-government forces captured the Islamic State group's last
stronghold in the energy-rich Homs province, paving the way to
advance on the besieged eastern city of Deir el-Zour.
(AP, 8/6/17)

2017 Aug 7, In Syria government
warplanes bombed Ein Tarma, a suburb of Damascus and an area
controlled by the Failaq al-Rahman rebel group, which does not
recognize a recent truce.
(AP, 8/7/17)
2017 Aug 7, An attack near the
Syrian border reportedly killed 36 members of an Iraqi Shi'ite
militia and and seven of Iran's elite Revolutionary Guards. The
US-led coalition fighting Islamic State denied responsibility.
Islamic State claimed it was responsible for the attack near At
Tanf.
(Reuters, 8/8/17)

2017 Aug 8, In Syria
pro-government forces intensified their assault on the rebel-held
suburbs of Damascus, a day after the Faylaq al-Rahman rebel faction
beat back an attempted government advance, killing several soldiers.
(AP, 8/8/17)
2017 Aug 8, In Syria airstrikes
on parts of the northern city of Raqqa that are controlled by the
Islamic State group killed 29 civilians, including nine women and 12
children.
(AP, 8/9/17)

2017 Aug 10, The Syrian army
and its allies seized control of at least 30 km (19 miles) of
Syria's border with Jordan from rebels in an attack.
(Reuters, 8/10/17)

2017 Aug 11, In northern Syria
US-backed Syrian fighters advancing on the Islamic State group from
the eastern and western parts of Raqqa have linked up for the first
time since launching their offensive on IS' de facto capital.
(AP, 8/11/17)

2017 Aug 12, In northwestern
Syria gunmen stormed an office of a paramedic group that is active
in opposition-controlled areas, killing seven of its members and
stealing two vehicles and other equipment in Sarmin. A suicide
attack in the south of the country killed at least 23 rebels.
(AP, 8/12/17)
2017 Aug 12, In central Syria a
commando operation backed by Russian warplanes and helicopters
killed 25 members of the Islamic State jihadist group. Six members
of the regime forces were also killed in the northeast of Homs
province.
(AFP, 8/13/17)

2017 Aug 13, The Syrian Failaq
al-Rahman rebel faction said it has killed 20 army soldiers in a
tunnel blast as the battle for Damascus's northeastern suburbs shows
no signs of letting up.
(AP, 8/13/17)

2017 Aug 14, Hundreds of Syrian
rebels and civilians started leaving the Lebanon-Syria border area
after a deal was reached for their departure following days of
delay.
(AP, 8/14/17)

2017 Aug 16, Lebanese troops
attacked IS positions on the other side of border with Syria,
tightening the siege on them. Syrian warplanes bombarded mountainous
areas controlled by the Islamic State group near the border with
Lebanon.
(AP, 8/16/17)

2017 Aug 17, Fadwa Suleiman
(44), Syrian actress-turned-activist died in Paris overnight of
cancer. She had fled to France after taking part in the 2011
uprising against President Bashar al-Assad. She had warned against
the conflict turning into sectarian war, tried unsuccessfully to
persuade residents of the predominantly Alawite cities of Latakia
and Tartus to join the uprising.
(AFP, 8/17/17)

2017 Aug 18, Syria’s state
media, a Hezbollah military media unit and a war monitor said the
Syrian army and its allies have encircled an Islamic State (IS)
pocket in central Syria after a series of advances in the desert
region.
(Reuters, 8/18/17)

2017 Aug 19, In Syria a car
bomb killed two people at a checkpoint in the coastal city of
Latakia, a stronghold of President Bashar Assad's government.
(AP, 8/19/17)
2017 Aug 19, The Lebanese army
launched an offensive against an Islamic State enclave on the
northeastern border with Syria. The Lebanese Shi'ite group Hezbollah
announced an assault on the militants from the Syrian side of the
frontier.
(AP, 8/19/17)

2017 Aug 20, Syrian President
Bashar Assad refused any security cooperation with Western nations
or the reopening of their embassies, until they cut ties with
opposition and insurgent groups. Five people were reported dead when
a rocket hit near an international trade fair in Damascus being held
for the first time in five years. The fair opened on August 17 at
the capital's Exhibition City and was scheduled to last 10 days.
(AP, 8/20/17)(AFP, 8/20/17)
2017 Aug 20, In Syria US-led
coalition strikes killed 27 civilians in part of Raqa city held by
the Islamic State group.
(AFP, 8/21/17)

2017 Aug 21, In Syria US-led
air strikes killed at least 42 civilians in Raqa in several
neighborhoods under IS control. 19 children and 12 women were among
the dead.
(AFP, 8/22/17)
2017 Aug 21, Russia said it has
intensified its air campaign in Syria to help Pres. Bashar Assad’s
forces drive Islamic State militants from Deir el-Zour, killing an
estimated 800 militants across the country this month alone.
(SFC, 3/22/17, p.A2)

2017 Aug 24, The Syrian
military advanced south from southern areas of Raqqa province,
joining up with their forces north of the town of al-Sukhna in Homs
province and in so doing closing the circle around the pocket of IS
insurgents.
(Reuters, 8/24/17)
2017 Aug 24, The United Nations
called for a humanitarian pause to allow an estimated 20,000 trapped
civilians to escape from the Syrian city of Raqqa, and urged the
US-led coalition to rein in air strikes that have caused casualties.
(Reuters, 8/24/17)

2017 Aug 25, In Syria Islamic
State group militants pushed back government forces advancing on
Maadan, one of the last towns still in IS hands in Raqqa province,
killing over two dozen soldiers and seizing vehicles.
(AP, 8/25/17)

2017 Aug 27, Cease-fires took
effect in the border area between Syria and Lebanon, halting
separate but simultaneous weeklong offensives against the Islamic
State group by the Lebanese army on one side and Hezbollah and
Syrian troops on the other.
(AP, 8/27/17)

2017 Aug 28, Syrian state
television cameras showed a convoy of Islamic State fighters and
their family members leaving the Lebanon-Syria border zone for an
area in eastern Syria held by the jihadist group, under the terms of
a truce.
(Reuters, 8/28/17)

2017 Aug 29, Buses carrying
hundreds of Islamic State militants and their families arrived in
eastern Syria following a negotiated evacuation from the
Lebanon-Syria border. Some 600 militants were allowed to leave as
part of a deal, negotiated by Hezbollah, in exchange for identifying
the location of the remains of Lebanese soldiers captured by IS in
2014 and later killed.
(AP, 8/29/17)

2017 Aug 30, In Syria US-led
warplanes conducted air strikes to block a convoy of Islamic State
fighters and their families from reaching territory the group holds
in eastern Syria.
(Reuters, 8/30/17)

2017 Aug 31, In eastern Syria a
convoy of Islamic State fighters from the Lebanon border began a new
attempt to reach territory held by the militant group after being
blocked by US-led airstrikes, despite warnings of more military
action.
(Reuters, 8/31/17)

2017 Sep 1, In central Syria a
military media unit run by Hezbollah captured Uqairabat, described
as Islamic State's stronghold in that region.
(AP, 9/2/17)
2017 Sep 1, The US-led
coalition fighting Islamic State militants said it had confirmed
another 61 likely civilian deaths caused by its strikes in Iraq and
Syria, raising to 685 the number of civilians it has acknowledged
killing since the conflict began.
(Reuters, 9/1/17)

2017 Sep 2, The Syrian army and
its allies were fought in Islamic State's last pocket in central
Syria.
(Reuters, 9/2/17)
2017 Sep 2, Lebanon's Hezbollah
movement accused US-led forces of stranding a convoy of Islamic
State fighters and civilians headed for Syria's Deir Ezzor province
under an evacuation deal. Dozens of IS group members and their
families have crossed into areas controlled by the extremists
despite US threats to bomb the convoy.
(AFP, 9/2/17) (AP, 9/2/17)

2017 Sep 3, Syria's army and
its allies advanced towards their enclave in Deir al-Zor, besieged
by Islamic State forces, taking al-Kharata oil field. Fierce clashes
between the Islamic State group and pro-regime forces in and around
the town of Uqayribat in the eastern Hama countryside left over 150
fighters dead over the last 24 hours, mostly jihadists.
(Reuters, 9/3/17)(AFP, 9/3/17)
2017 Sep 3, In eastern Syria an
Islamic State evacuation convoy trying to reach IS territory has
split in two, with some buses remaining in the open desert after
others turned back into government-held areas. The US-led coalition
fighting IS has blocked the convoy from entering Islamic State
territory in east Syria, near the border with Iraq, by cratering
roads and destroying bridges.
(Reuters, 9/3/17)

2017 Sep 4, Syria's army
battled the Islamic State group on the edges of Deir Ezzor, seeking
to break the siege of a government enclave and oust the jihadists
from a key stronghold.
(AFP, 9/4/17)
2017 Sep 4, In Syria the SDF
said it holds 65 percent of Raqqa in total. US-backed Syrian
militias have taken the historic old city of Raqqa and its ancient
mosque as they pressed their offensive to defeat Islamic State.
(Reuters, 9/4/17)

2017 Sep 5, Syrian government
forces reached troops besieged for years by Islamic State in the
eastern city of Deir al-Zor, one of the militants' last major
footholds.
(Reuters, 9/5/17)
2017 Sep 5, The US-led
coalition fighting the Islamic State group in Iraq and Syria swore
in a new commanding general, with the fight against the jihadists
now in its fourth year. Lieutenant General Paul Funk assumed command
of the Operation Inherent Resolve joint task force at a ceremony on
a military base in the region.
(AFP, 9/5/17)

2017 Sep 6, The Syrian army and
its allies fought to secure and expand a precarious corridor to
their comrades in Deir al-Zor, a day after they smashed through
Islamic State lines to break the jihadist siege.
(Reuters, 9/6/17)
2017 Sep 6, UN-mandated
investigators said that Syrian President Bashar Assad's air force
conducted a sarin-gas attack last April 4 that killed at least 83
civilians and sparked a retaliatory US strike. Investigators said
government forces have used chemical weapons more than two dozen
times during Syria's civil war, including the deadly attack on Khan
Sheikhoun.
(AP, 9/6/17)(Reuters, 9/6/17)

2017 Sep 7, Syria's army
accused Israeli warplanes of hitting one of its positions, killing
two people in an attack that a monitor said targeted a site where
the regime allegedly produces chemical weapons. The strike hit a
training camp and a branch of the Scientific Studies and Research
Center (SSRC), an institution that Washington has accused of helping
develop the sarin gas.
(AFP, 9/7/17)
2017 Sep 7, Prominent Syrian
opposition leader Riyad Hijab said UN mediation to end the country's
six-year conflict has failed and the revolution would continue.
(Reuters, 9/7/17)

2017 Sep 9, The Syrian army and
its allies reached an air base besieged for years by Islamic State
militants on the outskirts of the eastern city of Deir al-Zor and
recaptured an oilfield near the city . US-backed Syrian fighters
launched an offensive against the IS group in eastern Syria along
the border with Iraq, bringing them into a race with government
forces marching in the same direction.
(Reuters, 9/9/17)(AP, 9/9/17)

2017 Sep 10, Syrian government
forces and US-backed militias converged on Islamic State in separate
offensives against the militants in the eastern province of Deir
al-Zor. At least 17 civilians were killed by Russian air strikes in
Deir al-Zor.
(Reuters, 9/10/17)

2017 Sep 12, Syria's government
signed a contract with an Iranian company to import five gas-fired
power plants to the war-battered city of Aleppo.
(AP, 9/12/17)
2017 Sep 12, Syrian opposition
activists and witnesses said that several thousand Syrians stranded
on the border with Jordan have fled the Hadalat camp for the Rukban
camp further east, running from shelling and nearby fighting between
Syrian rebels and government forces.
(AP, 9/12/17)
2017 Sep 12, The Syrian
Observatory for Human Rights said air strikes likely to have been
carried out by Russian warplanes have killed 69 people since Sep 10
near the Euphrates River in the eastern Syrian province of Deir
al-Zor.
(Reuters, 9/12/17)
2017 Sep 12, The Lebanese
Shi'ite group Hezbollah declared victory in the Syrian war while
Russia said government forces had driven militants from 85 percent
of the country where President Bashar al-Assad's rule seemed in
danger two years ago.
(Reuters, 9/12/17)

2017 Sep 15, Syrian government
forces pressed their offensive in the province of Hama in an attack
aimed at clearing central Syria of Islamic State group fighters. The
violence came as a deal was announced in the Kazakh capital of
Astana on de-escalation in the nearby, mostly rebel-held province of
Idlib.
(AP, 9/15/17)
2017 Sep 15, Turkey’s foreign
ministry said Russia, Iran and Turkey have agreed to post observers
on the edge of a de-escalation zone in northern Syria's Idlib
region, which is largely controlled by Islamist militants.
(Reuters, 9/15/17)

2017 Sep 16, A military
alliance fighting together with the Syrian army said it launched an
assault in Deir al-Zor province to drive Islamic State militants
from the border with Iraq. A Russian airstrike wounded six fighters
of the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces near the city of
Deir el-Zour.
(Reuters, 9/16/17)(AP, 9/16/17)
2017 Sep 16, Counterterrorism
officials and analysts said thousands of Shiite Muslims from
Afghanistan and Pakistan are being recruited by Iran to fight with
President Bashar al-Assad's forces in Syria, lured by promises of
housing, a monthly salary of up to $600 and the possibility of
employment in Iran when they return.
(AP, 9/16/17)

2017 Sep 17, Syrian troops
seized a suburb of the eastern city of Deir al-Zor, tightening the
noose around Islamic State.
(Reuters, 9/17/17)

2017 Sep 18, Syrian government
troops came closer to encircling the Islamic State group in a pocket
of Deir Ezzor city after crossing the adjacent Euphrates River.
(AFP, 9/18/17)

2017 Sep 19, In Syria
Insurgents led by an al-Qaida-linked group launched one of their
widest offensives yet against pro-government forces, which responded
with heavy airstrikes targeting hospitals and first responders in
Idlib province.
(AP, 9/19/17)

2017 Sep 20, In Syria the
US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) said its campaign to
capture Raqqa from Islamic State (IS) was in its final stages and
its fighters had seized 80 percent of the city.
(Reuters, 9/20/17)

2017 Sep 21, The Syrian
Observatory for Human Rights said at least 22 civilians have been
killed in 48 hours of heavy air strikes by Syria's regime and its
ally Russia in the provinces of Idlib and Hama.
(AFP, 9/21/17)

2017 Sep 22, In northern Syria
thousands voted in predominantly Kurdish regions to elect heads of
local communities as part of the minority Kurds' efforts to move
closer to a federal system within Syria.
(AP, 9/22/17)
2017 Sep 22, Greece's top
administrative court approved the first forced deportation of two
Syrian refugees, setting a precedent for hundreds of similar cases.
(AP, 9/22/17)
2017 Sep 22, Turkey reported
that veteran Syrian opposition activist Aroubeh Barakat and her
journalist daughter Halla Barakat (22) were found stabbed to death
at their apartment in Istanbul, in a crime supporters decried as an
"assassination" to avenge their work.
(AFP, 9/22/17)

2017 Sep 23, In Syria US-backed
Syrian fighters captured the country's largest gas field from the
Islamic State group in Deir el-Zour province, as they race with
government forces to capture the energy-rich region.
(AP, 9/23/17)
2017 Sep 23, Syrian government
and allied troops seized Maadan, a town north of Deir el-Zour city
and south of Raqqa, which has been scene to intense fighting with
Islamic State militants. 45 insurgents were killed in Russian
airstrikes on a village in northern Idlib. The strikes targeted
members of the Faylaq al-Sham rebel group despite their
participation in the last round of talks in Astana.
(AP, 9/24/17)(AFP, 9/24/17)

2017 Sep 24, In northern Syria
US-allied militias announced the formation of a civilian council to
govern the oil rich eastern province of Deir al Zor where they are
racing with the Syrian army to capture territory held by Islamic
State. Warplanes continued to pound Syria's rural Idlib and Hama,
where insurgents led by an al-Qaida-linked group began an offensive
against government troops in the area.
(Reuters, 9/24/17)(AP, 9/24/17)
2017 Sep 24, The Russian
Defence Ministry said that Russian Lieutenant-General Valery Asapov
had been killed by Islamic State shelling near Deir al-Zor.
(Reuters, 9/25/17)

2017 Sep 25, In Syria Russia
bombed positions of US-backed forces in a major natural gas field
they recently captured from Islamic State militants. The SDF said
the airstrike killed one of its fighters and wounded two others in
the Conoco gas field, in Deir el-Zour province. Russia's Defense
Ministry denied the report.
(AP, 9/25/17)(SFC, 9/26/17, p.A2)

2017 Sep 28, In Syria a
Christian legislator was elected speaker of parliament in the
predominantly Muslim country for the first time in decades. Hammudeh
Sabbagh (58), a Syriac Orthodox Christian graduate in law and member
of President Bashar al-Assad's Baath party from Hasakeh province in
northeast Syria, won 193 votes out of 252 cast.
(AP, 9/28/17)
2017 Sep 28, In eastern Syria
Islamic State militants attacked al-Shola village recently captured
by government forces, threatening to cut the main highway linking
with the city of Deir el-Zour. The IS fighters appeared to have come
from the town of Mayadeen, one of the largest remaining strongholds
of the militants in Syria.
(AP, 9/28/17)

2017 Sep 29, A Hezbollah media
unit said the Syrian army and its allies have secured the Palmyra to
Deir al-Zor road, a major supply route from government territory to
the eastern city, defeating a strong Islamic State attack. The
Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the Islamic State attacks
had killed at least 73 Syrian government troops and allied fighters
over the last 24 hours.
(Reuters, 9/29/17)(AFP, 9/29/17)
2017 Sep 29, Doctors Without
Borders (MSF) said a surge in bombing raids has forced hospitals to
close in northwestern Syria. Air strikes in northern Syria
killed and wounded dozens.
(AP, 9/29/17) (SFC, 9/30/17,
p.A2)

2017 Sep 30, Syrian opposition
activists said at least 28 civilians were killed in air strikes
overnight on northwestern Syria where a planned safe zone has been
overshadowed by a bombing campaign against jihadists. It was not
clear if the strikes had been carried out by warplanes of the Syrian
government or its ally Russia. Airstrikes on villages and towns held
by the Islamic State group in eastern Syria killed and wounded
dozens. It was not immediately clear if the airstrikes were carried
out by Russians or the US-led coalition.
(AFP, 9/30/17)(AP, 9/30/17)

2017 Oct 1, In central Syria
the Islamic State group seized the town of Al-Qaryatain, Homs
province, known as a symbol of religious coexistence in a surprise
attack against regime forces.
(AFP, 10/1/17)
2017 Oct 1, The Syrian
Observatory for Human Rights monitor said Syria's war killed at
least 3,000 people including 955 civilians in September, in the
deadliest month of the conflict this year.
(AP, 10/1/17)

2017 Oct 3, In Syria a US-led
coalition air strike killed at least 18 civilians in the Islamic
State group's former stronghold of Raqa. Coalition planes targeted
water wells where a group of civilians were gathered.
(AFP, 10/3/17)
2017 Oct 3, Islamic State
released a video that it said showed two Russian soldiers captured
by its fighters in the Syrian city of Deir al-Zor, where Russia has
been backing the Syrian military against militants.
(Reuters, 10/3/17)
2017 Oct 3, Russia carried out
airstrikes in Syria that it later said critically wounded Abu
Mohammed al-Golani, leader of the al-Qaida-linked Levant Liberation
Committee. 12 other militant commanders were also believed killed.
(SFC, 10/5/17, p.A2)

2017 Oct 4, Syrian troops and
allied militiamen advanced to about six miles of the eastern city of
Mayadeen. Rockets and barrel bombs in the area killed at least 20
people. Tens of thousands have fled the region in the past week.
(SFC, 10/5/17, p.A2)
2017 Oct 4, It was reported
that an examination by the Organization for the Prohibition of
Chemical Weapons (OPCW) found that samples from an attack by Syrian
forces last March 30 on the opposition-held town of Latamneh tested
positive for the banned nerve agent sarin.
(Reuters, 10/4/17)
2017 Oct 4, An official
document issued by the Russian consulate in Damascus showed that at
least 131 Russian citizens died in Syria in the first nine months of
this year.
(Reuters, 10/27/17)

2017 Oct 5, The Russian Defense
Ministry said its submarines have fired 10 cruise missiles at
Islamic State positions outside the eastern Syrian town of Mayadeen,
one of the last major IS strongholds in the country.
(AP, 10/5/17)

2017 Oct 6, Syria's army and
its allies neared al-Mayadin, pushing an advance on an eastern city
seen as Islamic State's main remaining base in the country.
Al-Qaida-linked fighters attacked Abu Dali in central Hama province,
a key central Syrian village at the crossroads between areas under
government control and those controlled by insurgents.
(Reuters, 10/6/17)(AP, 10/6/17)

2017 Oct 7, In northwestern
Syria two waves of air strikes on the jihadist-held town of Khan
Sheikhun, Idlib province, killed at least 13 civilians over the past
24 hours. The strikes were believed to have been carried out by the
Syrian air force.
(AP, 10/7/17)
2017 Oct 7, Russia’s defence
ministry said some 120 Islamic State fighters and 60 foreign
mercenaries were killed in a series of Russian air strikes in Syria
over the past 24 hours. The ministry also said three senior IS
commanders including Omar al-Shishani had been confirmed dead as a
result of an earlier Russian strike. The Pentagon said in 2016 the
notorious fighter had been killed by American troops in Iraq.
(AFP, 10/7/17)
2017 Oct 7, Turkey's
president announced that the country has launched a "serious"
operation in Syria's northwestern Idlib province with Turkey-backed
Syrian opposition forces, following international efforts for
de-escalation in the war-torn country.
(AP, 10/7/17)

2017 Oct 8, In northwestern
Syria at least 11 civilians including two children were killed in
suspected regime air strikes on a market in Idlib province's Maaret
al-Numan. In the east Syria's army and its allies encircled Islamic
State in the city of al-Mayadin, southeast of Deir al-Zor.
(AFP, 10/8/17)(Reuters, 10/8/17)
2017 Oct 8, Turkish forces
shelled areas along its border with Syria's northwestern province,
an area dominated by al-Qaida-linked militants. President Tayyip
Erdogan said Turkey was implementing a deal agreed with Russia and
Iran to reduce violence in Syria's northern province of Idlib, in
cooperation with Free Syrian Army rebel fighters.
(AP, 10/8/17)(Reuters, 10/8/17)

2017 Oct 10, In Syria a Russian
military jet crashed while taking off from the Hmeymim air base in
an incident that killed its two-man crew.
(Reuters, 10/10/17)

2017 Oct 11, In Syria three men
blew themselves up near the police headquarters in central Damascus.
The blasts killed two people and injured six others.
(Reuters, 10/11/17)
2017 Oct 11, In Syria the
US-led coalition battling the Islamic State group said that it won't
accept a negotiated withdrawal for hundreds of IS militants holed up
in Raqqa. An estimated 4,000 civilians remained trapped in the city.
(AP, 10/11/17)

2017 Oct 12, In Syria dozens of
desperate civilians streamed out of battlefront districts of Raqa
after a ferocious resumption in bombardment against Islamic State
group holdouts in the city.
(AFP, 10/12/17)
2017 Oct 12, Three Syrian
opposition factions agreed to cease fire in southern Damascus under
an agreement brokered by Egypt and Russia that was not signed by the
Syrian government.
(AP, 10/12/17)

2017 Oct 14, Syria's army
captured the IS stronghold of Mayadeen in Deir Ezzor province. The
US-led coalition said around 100 IS fighters in Raqa had surrendered
to the SDF in the past 24 hours. A convoy left Raqa under an
evacuation deal. More than 3,000 civilians fled Raqa, the Islamic
State group's former stronghold Raqa, leaving behind only relatives
of foreign IS fighters.
(AFP, 10/14/17)(AP, 10/15/17)

2017 Oct 15, In Syria US-backed
fighters launched an operation to retake the last Islamic State-held
pocket of the northern city of Raqqa after some 275 militants and
their family members surrendered. The Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic
Force (SDF) has been on the offensive in Raqqa since early June and
now controls about 90 percent of the city.
(AP, 10/15/17)

2017 Oct 16, In Syria SDF
fighters marched toward a hospital and stadium in Raqqa under the
cover of airstrikes by the US-led coalition as scores of civilians
trickled out of the IS-held part of the city.
(AP, 10/16/17)
2017 Oct 16, Israel's military
carried out an air strike on an anti-aircraft battery in Syria after
it fired toward its planes, while vowing it sought no further
escalation in the war-torn country.
(AFP, 10/16/17)

2017 Oct 17, In northern Syria
US-backed forces said they have captured Raqqa, once the seat of
power for the Islamic State group, after a grueling four-month
battle that left the city in ruins.
(AP, 10/17/17)

2017 Oct 18, In Syria US-backed
Syrian forces removed land mines and cleared roads in the northern
city of Raqqa, a day after commanders said they had driven the
Islamic State group from its de facto capital. 95 percent of the
city was under full control as clearing operations continued.
(AP, 10/18/17)
2017 Oct 18, Veteran Syrian
opposition member Mohammed Saleh Abu Ali, who has been campaigning
for the release of Syrian detainees, was himself detained at a
checkpoint in the central city of Homs.
(AP, 10/22/17)

2017 Oct 19, In Syria Iran's
military chief met with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad during a
visit to Damascus to set out a joint military strategy, a sign of
deepening Iranian influence that has alarmed Israel.
(Reuters, 10/19/17)
2017 Oct 19, In Syria US-backed
forces who captured Raqa from the Islamic State group prepared to
hand the city over to a civilian authority, with some of their
fighters already headed to the next battle.
(AFP, 10/19/17)

2017 Oct 20, In Syria the
Kurdish-led force that expelled the Islamic State group from Raqa
hailed a "historic victory" in the devastated city's stadium and
vowed to hand over power to a civilian administration.
(AFP, 10/20/17)

2017 Oct 21, Syrian government
forces and their allies regained control of Qaryatay, a
predominantly Christian central town that sleeper cells of the
Islamic State group captured late last month.
(AP, 10/21/17)
2017 Oct 21, The Israeli army
attacked Syrian government artillery after fire across the armistice
line hit the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights and warned it would step
up such retaliation in the future. Five projectiles from Syria set
off air raid sirens in Israeli towns.
(AFP, 10/21/17)(Reuters, 10/21/17)

2017 Oct 22, In Syria US-backed
militias captured the al-Omar oil field, the largest in the country,
pressing their assault against Islamic State in the east of the
country.
(Reuters, 10/22/17)

2017 Oct 23, The Syrian
government and activists said the bodies of at least 67 civilians,
many summarily killed by the Islamic State group, have been
discovered in al-Qaryatayn, a town that government forces retook
from the extremists over the weekend. The Britain-based Syrian
Observatory for Human Rights said it had documented the killings of
at least 128 people in al-Qaryatayn during the last days of IS
control of the town. 30 of the 50 militants, who overran the town
last month, were originally from the town.
(AP, 10/23/17)(Reuters, 10/23/17)(SFC, 10/24/17,
p.A2)
2017 Oct 23, UNICEF said more
than 1,100 children are suffering from acute malnutrition in the
besieged rebel-held Eastern Ghouta area outside Damascus.
(AFP, 10/23/17)
2017 Oct 23, In Syria Jac
Holmes (24), a British man who was fighting with US-backed Kurdish
forces against the Islamic State group, died while clearing mines in
the northern city of Raqqa.
(AP, 10/25/17)

2017 Oct 24, Russia cast a veto
at the UN Security Council preventing the renewal of the mandate to
a mission that investigates the use of chemical weapons in Syria.
The mission's mandate is due to expire in mid-November.
(Reuters, 10/24/17)

2017 Oct 26, Iraqi forces
launched an attack to drive Islamic State from the last territory it
holds in Iraq. Approximately 1,500 Islamic State fighters were
estimated to be still in the immediate vicinity of al-Qaim. The
Syrian army and its allies said they planned to march on Albu Kamal,
the jihadist's last Syrian stronghold.
(Reuters, 10/26/17)

2017 Oct 27, The UN condemned
the "deliberate starvation of civilians" as a war tactic following
the release of "shocking" images showing severely malnourished
children in an area near Damascus besieged by Syria's military.
(AFP, 10/27/17)

2017 Oct 29, In Syria heavy
clashes in the last 24 hours between the government’s army and the
Islamic State group in Deir Ezzor city killed at least 73 fighters,
including 23 Syrian soldiers and pro-regime militiamen. At least 11
civilians were killed and a school day violently interrupted amid
intensive Syrian government shelling of a rebel-held enclave north
of Damascus.
(AFP, 10/29/17)(AP, 10/29/17)

2017 Nov 1, The Russian Defense
Ministry said in a statement that six long-range bombers struck
Islamic State positions in Deir al-Zor province.
(Reuters, 11/1/17)

2017 Nov 2, In Syria six
Russian Tu-22M3 long-range bombers struck Islamic State targets near
the town of Abu Kemal.
(Reuters, 11/2/17)
2017 Nov 2, Russia dismissed a
report by a UN-led panel that blamed the Syrian regime for the April
4 sarin gas attack on the rebel-held town of Khan Sheikhun as
"superficial and unprofessional".
(AFP, 11/2/17)

2017 Nov 3, Syrian troops
retook Deir Ezzor city, in the oil-rich east of the country, the
last major city where the Islamic State group had a presence.
(AFP, 11/3/17)
2017 Nov 3, Syrian rebel
factions launched an attack on government-held territory in Quneitra
province, with the aim of connecting two insurgent-held areas.
Damascus said Nusra Front rebels exploded a car in Hader, a Druze
village in Quneitra, killing at least nine people.
(Reuters, 11/3/17)
2017 Nov 3, The Russian Defense
Ministry said that six Tu-22M bombers unloaded bombs on IS targets
near Boukamal. Two Russian submarines in the Mediterranean also
launched six cruise missiles at IS targets.
(AP, 11/3/17)

2017 Nov 4, In eastern Syria
truck bomb blast near the Conoco gas plant near Deir el-Zour city
killed more than a hundred people as locals awaited passage into SDF
territory.
(AP, 11/5/17)
2017 Nov 4, Islamic State
militants inside Syria repelled an attack by Iraq's Popular
Mobilization Forces, the paramilitary group of mostly Shiite
fighters within the Iraqi security forces. The attack over the last
24 hours took place near the border town of Boukamal but that the
PMF fighters crossed back into Iraq.
(AP, 11/4/17)
2017 Nov 4, Russian Tu-22M3
long-range bombers struck Islamic State targets near the town of
Albu Kamal in Syria.
(Reuters, 11/4/17)

2017 Nov 7, Syria said at UN
climate talks in Bonn that it would join the Paris Agreement,
leaving the United States as the only nation to say it will remain
outside the landmark treaty.
(AFP, 11/7/17)

2017 Nov 8, Syria's army and
its allies began an assault on the largest remaining stronghold of
Islamic State in Syria and Iraq, signaling the imminent fall of the
militant group's self-proclaimed caliphate.
(Reuters, 11/8/17)
2017 Nov 8, Russian Deputy
Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said Moscow opposed a draft UN
resolution to extend the mandate of the investigation by the United
Nations and the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons
(OPCW) into chemical weapons attacks in Syria.
(Reuters, 11/8/17)

2017 Nov 9, Syria’s army
declared victory over Islamic State. Syrian troops and allied
militiamen expelled Islamic State group fighters from Albu Kamal
(Boukamal), the last significant town the jihadists still held in
their disintegrating "caliphate". A large number of militants and
leaders were reported killed.
(Reuters, 11/9/17)(AFP, 11/9/17)(SFC, 11/10/17,
p.A4)
2017 Nov 9, Britain accused
Russia of carrying out a "thinly veiled political attack" on the
head of the world's chemical weapons watchdog, escalating a row over
the agency's investigation into toxic attacks in Syria.
(Reuters, 11/9/17)
2017 Nov 9, UN humanitarian
adviser Jan Egeland said the 400,000 civilians besieged in the
Syrian enclave of Eastern Ghouta face "complete catastrophe" because
aid deliveries are blocked, and hundreds of people need urgent
medical evacuation.
(Reuters, 11/9/17)

2017 Nov 11, The Israeli
military shot down an unmanned aircraft that tried to infiltrate its
airspace from neighboring Syria. The military said it intercepted
the drone above the Golan Heights using a Patriot missile.
(AP, 11/11/17)

2017 Nov 13, In northern Syria
an airstrike on a market in the rebel-held town of Atareb killed at
least 61 people. Atareb has been subject to Russian and Syrian
government airstrikes since 2015.
(AP, 11/13/17)(AP, 11/14/17)

2017 Nov 15, Syrian rebel
officials said a senior commander has defected to Turkey from the
US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), a leading combatant in the
fight against Islamic State. Brigadier General Talal Silo handed
himself in at dawn to the Free Syrian Army (FSA), an adversary of
the SDF, and was escorted to Turkey.
(Reuters, 11/15/17)
2017 Nov 15, In Syria six
Russian long-range bombers struck Islamic State targets near the
town of Albu Kamal in Deir al-Zor Province.
(Reuters, 11/15/17)

2017 Nov 16, In Syria at least
six people were killed and 45 others were wounded in rocket and
mortar fire on several parts of Damascus. State news agency SANA
said the attacks originated from the rebel-held Eastern Ghouta
region outside the capital. Activists said government shelling and
airstrikes have killed nearly two dozen civilians in three days of
fighting in the suburbs of Damascus.
(AFP, 11/16/17)(AP, 11/16/17)
2017 Nov 16, In Syria
Kheyrollah Samadi, a commander in Iran's elite Revolutionary Guards,
was killed fighting the Islamic State in the Albu Kamal region.
(AP, 11/19/17)

2017 Nov 17, In Syria at least
five children and two rescue workers were killed in a Damascus
suburb during a government bombing campaign amid escalating violence
in and around the capital despite a truce.
(AP, 11/17/17)
2017 Nov 17, In Syria six
Russian long-range bombers struck Islamic State targets near the
town of Albu Kamal in Deir al-Zor province.
(AP, 11/17/17)
2017 Nov 17, Russia cast a
second veto in as many days at the United Nations Security Council
to block the renewal of a probe to identify the perpetrators of
chemical weapons attacks in Syria.
(AFP, 11/17/17)

2017 Nov 18, Syrian troops and
allied fighters advanced to capture most of Albu Kamal, in a
tug-of-war over the Islamic State group's last urban stronghold in
the country.
(AFP, 11/18/17)
2017 Nov 18, In eastern Syria
Iranian fighter Mehdi Movahednia was killed in clashes with Islamic
State in the town of Mayadin.
(Reuters, 11/19/17)

2017 Nov 19, Syrian state media
said pro-government forces have defeated the Islamic State group in
Boukamal (Albu Kamal), its last major stronghold, leaving the
militants to defend just strips of desert territory in the country
and a besieged pocket outside Damascus. More than 80 fighters were
killed in the three days of ferocious push to retake the town,
including 31 pro-regime forces and at least 50 IS jihadists.
(AP, 11/19/17)(AFP, 11/19/17)
2017 Nov 19, In Turkey top
diplomats from Iran, Russia and Turkey met in Antalya to discuss the
civil war in Syria ahead of a three-way summit in the Russian city
of Sochi Nov. 22.
(AFP, 11/19/17)

2017 Nov 20, Russian President
Vladimir Putin hosted Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad for three hours
of talks to lay the groundwork for a new push by Moscow to end
Syria's conflict now that Islamic State's territorial caliphate is
overrun.
(Reuters, 11/21/17)
2017 Nov 20, Turkey said Syrian
Kurdish fighters have attacked a Turkish observation post in the
northern Syrian province of Idlib with mortar rounds. There were no
casualties.
(AP, 11/20/17)

2017 Nov 21, A Syrian Kurdish
militia accused Turkish forces of "aggression and escalation" in the
Afrin region, which it controls, on Syria's northwestern border with
Turkey.
(Reuters, 11/21/17)

2017 Nov 22, Vladimir Putin
called for "concessions and compromise" from all parties in Syria's
six-year conflict as he kicked off a key summit in Sochi with the
leaders of Turkey and Iran aimed at reviving stuttering peace
negotiations.
(AFP, 11/22/17)
2017 Nov 22, In Saudi Arabia
the UN envoy for Syria urged disparate Syrian opposition groups at a
meeting in Riyadh to come up with a united front ahead of another
round of Syrian peace talks in Geneva later this month.
(AP, 11/22/17)

2017 Nov 23, Meeting in Saudi
Arabia Syria's fragmented opposition doubled down on attempts to
unify their ranks, the second day of a Saudi-sponsored meeting ahead
of next week's UN-brokered peace talks.
(AFP, 11/23/17)

2017 Nov 24, Russia's Defense
Ministry said six TU-22M3 long-range bombers had carried out air
strikes on Islamic State targets on the western bank of the
Euphrates river in Syria.
(Reuters, 11/24/17)
2017 Nov 24, Turkey said that
US President Donald Trump told President Tayyip Erdogan he had
issued instructions that weapons should not be provided to Kurdish
YPG fighters in Syria, and that the Turkish government hoped to see
that order carried out.
(Reuters, 11/24/17)

2017 Nov 28, Syria's government
agreed to a ceasefire in rebel-held Eastern Ghouta, following days
of heavy bombardment. Shelling killed three people in Eastern Ghouta
shortly before the ceasefire.
(AFP, 11/28/17)(Reuters, 11/28/17)

2017 Nov 30, Amnesty
International said the Syrian government has used internationally
banned Soviet-made cluster munitions in attacks on the besieged
rebel-held suburb of Damascus.
(AP, 11/30/17)
2017 Nov 30, Lebanese PM Saad
Hariri charged that the Syrian regime which he blames for his
father's assassination also wants him killed, in an interview
published today in French magazine Paris Match.
(AFP, 11/30/17)
2017 Nov 30, Russian Security
Council secretary Nikolai Patrushev said Moscow was already
preparing to withdraw its military contingent from Syria.
(Reuters, 11/30/17)
2017 Nov 30, The UN called on
world powers to help arrange the medical evacuation of 500 people,
including 167 children, from eastern Ghouta. In the past two months,
UN convoys have delivered supplies to only 68,000 of the 400,000
trapped civilians.
(Reuters, 11/30/17)
2017 Nov 30, The US-led
coalition in Syria said over 400 US Marines involved in battling the
Islamic State group are being withdrawn as part of a cut in forces
after the capture of jihadist "capital" Raqa.
(AFP, 11/30/17)
2017 Nov 30, A US coalition
report said at least 800 civilians have been killed in strikes in
Iraq and Syria by the US-led coalition fighting Islamic State since
the campaign began in 2014.
(Reuters, 11/30/17)

2017 Dec 1, Syrian insurgents
brought down an army helicopter in government territory southwest of
Damascus, near the Israel-occupied Golan Heights. Two Syrian army
officers from the helicopter's crew died.
(Reuters, 12/1/17)
2017 Dec 1, In northern Syria
Kurdish-led authorities held local elections in areas they control,
pushing ahead with autonomy plans opposed by both the government of
President Bashar al-Assad and by Turkey.
(Reuters, 12/1/17)
2017 Dec 1, Russia’s Defense
Ministry said six Russian long-range bombers have hit Islamic State
targets in Syria's Deir al-Zor province.
(Reuters, 12/1/17)

2017 Dec 2, Syrian state news
said Israel has fired several surface-to-surface missiles at a
military post near Damascus early today, causing material damage but
no casualties. The report also said that Syrian air defenses shot
down two of the Israeli missiles.
(AP, 12/2/17)

2017 Dec 3, Syria's main
Kurdish forces declared that they have successfully cleared areas
east of the Euphrates river of Islamic State militants, with help
from the US-led coalition and Russian forces.
(AP, 12/3/17)

2017 Dec 4, In Syria jets
believed to be Syrian and Russian struck heavily crowded residential
areas in Hamoriya, a besieged rebel enclave near Damascus, killing
at least 17 people and injuring dozens in the third week of a
stepped-up assault. Four other civilians were killed in the town of
Arbin and 6 others from strikes on Misraba and Harasta.
(Reuters, 12/4/17)

2017 Dec 5, In Syria an
explosion ripped through a van in Akarma, near the central city of
Homs, killing at least eight people. State news said Syrian air
defense units have shot down three Israeli missiles that were
targeting a military post near Damascus.
(AP, 12/5/17)
2017 Dec 5, In eastern Syria
airstrikes killed at least 12 civilians in al-Jarthi, a village held
by the Islamic State group. The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for
Human Rights said Russia carried out the strikes, in support of
US-backed, Kurdish-led forces driving to capture IS territory on the
Euphrates River. The Observatory said 21 people were killed in the
strikes.
(AP, 12/6/17)(Reuters, 12/6/17)
2017 Dec 5, US Army Colonel
Ryan Dillon, spokesman for the United States-led international
coalition fighting Islamic State, estimated that fewer than 3,000
fighters belonging to the hardline Sunni militant group remain in
Iraq and Syria.
(Reuters, 12/5/17)

2017 Dec 7, Jan Egeland, a top
UN humanitarian adviser for Syria, said 12 people have died awaiting
evacuation from government-besieged suburbs of Damascus. Egeland
said the government has refused to approve evacuations on the UN
list, which has now reached 494 names.
(AP, 12/7/17)

2017 Dec 10, The Syrian
government's delegation returned to Geneva for the resumption of
talks with United Nations mediator Staffan de Mistura after more
than a week's absence.
(Reuters, 12/10/17)
2017 Dec 10, In Syria US-backed
militias agreed to form a joint military center with the Iraqi army
to protect their common border region after ousting Islamic State
militants.
(Reuters, 12/11/17)

2017 Dec 11, Russia’s President
Vladimir Putin flew into Syria and ordered "a significant part" of
Moscow's military contingent there to start withdrawing, declaring
their work largely done. Putin added that Russia would keep the
Hmeymim air base in Syria's Latakia Province and its naval facility
in the port of Tartous. The Russian defense ministry has said
41 of its troops have died in Syria. The St. Petersburg-based
website Fontanka has said 73 private contractors have been killed
fighting in Syria.
(Reuters, 12/11/17)(Reuters, 12/12/17)(SFC,
12/13/17, p.A3)

2017 Dec 14, Syria's government
team at the UN-sponsored peace talks in Geneva said that there will
be no dialogue with the opposition as long as it insists on the
removal of President Bashar Assad.
(AP, 12/14/17)

2017 Dec 15, In Syria the
al-Qaida-linked Levant Liberation Committee that controls large
parts of Idlib issued a religious edict calling for general
mobilization to "deter the savage attack of the criminal"
government.
(AP, 12/16/17)

2017 Dec 16, The
government-controlled Syrian Central Military Media said Syrian
troops have captured the village of Tal al-Khanazeer on the
southeastern edge of Idlib.
(AP, 12/16/17)

2017 Dec 17, Turkey's president
slammed a US-backed Syrian Kurdish militant group and said he'll
clear his country's border with Syria of "terrorists".
(AP, 12/17/17)

2017 Dec 19, The UN Security
Council voted to renew cross-border aid deliveries to Syria's
opposition-held areas for one year, but Russia abstained and said
the relief operation should wind down.
(AFP, 12/19/17)

2017 Dec 20, In Syria overnight
air strikes killed 19 people in Maar Shureen, a village in the rebel
stronghold of northwestern Idlib province.
(Reuters, 12/20/17)

2017 Dec 21, The Russian
parliament voted to extend Russia's lease of a naval base in Syria
for 49 years, following Vladimir Putin's announcement of a partial
pullout of Russian troops from the war-torn country.
(AP, 12/21/17)

2017 Dec 22, Russian Defense
Minister Sergei Shoigu said a total of 48,000 of Russian troops have
taken part in Moscow's military campaign in Syria.
(AP, 12/22/17)